The Lives We Live
by FirearmPrime
Summary: Growing up a mutant was hard enough. Growing up with four mutanted brothers and a father... that leads to some interesting adventures. I suck at summaries! Please review, follow, or favorite to let me know if I should continue! RaphaelXOC!
1. Things Change

A/N: So this is something I've been wanting to do for a while but the new 2012 TMNT on Nick got me writing it. This is a trail run, depending on the response depends on if I will continue writing. It was based off the 2003 Episodes, my favorite ones and ones that are good for an OC. Please let me know if I should continue!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**Things Change**_

"_**My name is Leonardo and right now my brothers, sister, and I are in a mess of trouble. Our backs are up against the wall in some trash-thrown alley cornered by the toughest street gang on the East side. He's wrong… we're not wearing costumes."  
**_

A swift kick ended the sparring match. The woman smirked as she leaned her weight onto her right leg before placing her hands on her hips.

"Well, that was fun." The woman said in her standard New York accent, as she brushed her hair out of her face. A growl left the down man's chest. She chuckled before pulling her hair out of its ponytail, running her fingers through it to straighten it out.

"You cheated." Crimson colored eyes rolled at the man's accusation before she turned and sat down next to her three "brothers." The woman stood up before looking back at the three.

"I'm running to the bathroom." She said as he began to walk up the stairs of the lair. After using the bathroom and washing her hands, she looked in the mirror. Black hair crimson eyes stared back at her. She honed in on some features such as the cat ears on the top of her head and how her eyes had taken the shape of a cat's pupil. She also sported fangs, a tail, and claws. Garnet had become a mutant when she was five, it was also the same time that she was found by Master Splinter and met her "brothers".

Master Splinter should have scared her when they first met but he didn't. Her father figure was a large rat but the man had taught her everything she knew from speaking correctly to wielding her weapon of choice, the Tessen. Her brothers were out of the ordinary also, they were all talking mutant turtles. Her eldest brother was Leonardo, followed by Raphael, and then Donatello. Garnet and Michelangelo stood as the youngest in the family.

The girl splashed water on her face before looking into the mirror again, watching the water drip down her face. She reached over and grabbed a towel to pat her face dry before hanging it back up and walking out, flipping the light off as she went.

"Man! Raph, that hurts!" The dark haired woman came around the corner to see the second oldest beating up the youngest.

"Raph, leave him alone." Leo said as he finished polishing his swords before putting them back in their sheaths. Garnet rolled her eyes before she plopped down between Leo and Don. The woman watched them rough-house on the floor, she watched the way Raph's skin stretched over his flexing muscles. She'd always had a crush on her older "brother" as they grew up. By the time the hotheaded turtle had hit fifteen, he began to fill out, growing taller and becoming thicker with muscle. It took Garnet until last year to begin to fill out, her body was now getting that hourglass figure she'd been after and because of her ninja training, she was definitely in shape.

"My sons and daughter…" Splinter said as he entered the living room. The five of them quickly moved in front of their master and father before sitting down with their feet under them, as if they were on a Japanese pillow. "After much thought and consideration, I feel as though you are old enough to go to the surface." The teens smiled at each other before Splinter began speaking again. "But, you will need a leader." He said as he looked at the group. They all glanced at each other before Leo turned to the rat and got a serious, determined look on his face.

"Master Splinter, I would be honored if I could take on the roll as leader." Leo said as he bowed his head slightly. Garnet and Raphael both rolled their eyes before listening.

"Well, that seems like an appropriate decision." Master Splinter said as he looked at each one of his "children". "You are allowed to go to the surface until the sun begins to rise." The mutant teens nodded before they stood and smiled at each other. Garnet pulled her hair into a high ponytail and tied her signature red bandana around her neck; she had this just in case she needs to cover her face or ears. Before the teenagers could make it to the opening of the liar, the ground started to shake. It was so powerful; Garnet had to grab a hold of Leo's arm to stay upright.

"What's going on?" Mikey asked loud enough that the group could hear him.

"Could it be an earthquake?" Leo asked as he wrapped his arms around Garnet to pull her into a door way to avoid falling debris. Donnie put a hand to his chin.

"It's possible but highly unlikely." The purple clad ninja said before jumping out of the way of a large falling brick. Suddenly, the roof collapsed in, separating the teens from their father.

"Master Splinter!" Leo yelled as he ran through the settling dust, the rest of the mutant teens following after him. After pulling on some of the bricks, they came to the conclusion that it they weren't budging. Leo took in a deep breath before turning to Donnie. "Donatello, is there any way to make contact with Master Splinter?"

"Yeah, the shell cell." The purple banded turtle asked as he pulled it out of his bag and dialed a number quickly. The group smiled when they heard Master Splinter's voice on the other end, asking himself how you are to answer the phone.

"I'm so teaching him to work the cell after this is over." Garnet said, causing Raph to chuckle from next to her. When the meeting place was arranged, Donnie closed the cell and put it back into his bag.

"Goodbye broken pipe. Goodbye grungy payphone. Goodbye dented manhole cover. Goodbye home sweet home." He finished by placing a hand over his heart. Garnet chuckled and watched as Raph walked up behind him.

"And hello cruel world. Come on." He grabbed Mike's bandana and pulled him towards the other teens. They turned and began to follow Leo out of the lair. As they walked, they surveyed all of the damaged sewer walls.

"These walls are seriously compromised. It's lucky this roof hasn't caved in yet." Donnie said before they came to a stop. Garnet peeked around her eldest brother to see the pathway blocked with what looked to be the roof of the tunnel.

"You were saying." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, what now?" She asked, glancing at Leo and Don.

"We can't go forward and we can't go back." Leo said. Raph looked up and saw a manhole cover. He turned back to his siblings.

"We go up." He said before walking towards the latter that sat under the manhole cover. Leo, Don, Mike, and Garnet followed him.

"Going to the surface is a bad idea." Leo said as he caught Raph arm.

"But we've got no other way to go Leo." Don said, holding out a hand to show him the blocked path.

"I'm with Don." Garnet said. "If we wanna find Master Splinter than the only way to go is up." Leo turned to the three still behind him, with a sigh.

"Fine, but we're going up just to come back down the next manhole, got it?" He asked. "There will be no fooling around." Garnet rolled her eyes before walking over to the latter.

"Remain in the shadows. Never be seen. It's dangerous to be seen let alone captured. We get it Leo, we've heard the speech all of our lives." She said as she placed her boot-clad foot on the bottom step. Raph nodded before he began climbing.

"Just follow my lead." Once reaching the top of the stairs, Raph pushed the manhole cover off and began looking around. Garnet sighed before reaching up and grabbing his calf.

"Not that I'm not enjoying the view or anything but move it Raphie, I don't want to be staring at your butt any longer than I have to." She said. When Raph jumped out, Garnet was quick to follow. Before Leo could get out a guy on a scooter drove by, Raph hid along the darkest part of the wall while Garnet ducked down behind a dumpster. Garnet watched as Raph went ahead, but she stayed and waited for her other brothers to exit the sewers. They watched Raph go down an alley, be stopped out the mouth of it and watched as the red banded turtle kneeled down. He stood up, growled, and kicked the truck.

"Way to be stealthy Raph." Leo said from his kneeled position.

"Yeah, I don't think they heard you over in Jersey." Mikey said, adding an accent to 'jersey'.

"Give me a hand." Raph said as he pointed to the truck. Mikey raised his hands as if he was going to clap but Raph beat him to it. "Don't even think about it Mikey." He pointed a finger at his younger brother. Leo shook his head at Mikey's antics while Garnet chuckled softly. "Whatever, I'll push it myself." Raph said before he walked towards the back of the truck to try and push it off the manhole cover. Garnet began to walk towards the hot headed turtle when her ears flicked to the door, someone was coming out.

"Hid Raph." She whispered as she turned around and quietly ran back to her hiding place. Raph glanced around before going to the only place he could apparently think of, the back of the truck.

"Poor choice Raphael." Mikey said with his hand on his forehead. Garnet began to bit at her claws (nails) in nervous anticipation. The men threw some bags into the back of the truck before closing it and locking it up.

"What was he thinking?" Garnet turned and asked Donnie, who shrugged at his little sister's question. The truck drove by them, the four remaining teens hiding behind a parked car. They stepped out from behind it when the truck's lights could no longer spot them.

"Imagine their surprise when they open the back of that truck." Mikey said.

"This is exactly what Master Splinter was talking about." Leo said, drawing his sibling's attention to him. "We've got to get him out of there." Garnet crossed her arms over her chest.

"You know, I thought maybe we would just leave him there." She said before narrowing her eyes at her oldest brother. Suddenly, the four turned and began running for a fire escape so that they could get on the roof.

"Last one to the roof hatched from a rotten egg." Donnie said as he jumped up.

"I never hatched from an egg." Garnet said as she flipped over Mikey. After landing on the roof, they ran to the edge to watch the truck. They began jumping from rooftop to rooftop following the truck. The truck pulled to a stop in an alley, it was dark with no other people around, which was good for the siblings. Mikey jumped down first, quickly knocking out the guy watching the truck.

"Nice work Mikey." Leo said as he landed.

"It's a ninja thing." Mikey said with a smile on his face.

"Now, let's get Raph out of that thing." Leo said as they turned to the truck. Raphael was saying something while beating on the doors, but it was muffled.

"What's that Raphael, you're gonna have to speak up dude; I can't hear you." Mikey said in a teasing tone of voice. Raph kicked the doors… hard.

"Okay, I heard that." Mikey said. Garnet rolled her eyes before punching Mike in the shoulder.

"Will you stop antagonizing him? You know how he gets afterwards." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest, getting a large smile from Mikey. They watched Donnie work in silence, when he connected the last wires the doors popped open quietly. Garnet never noticed that Mikey moved closer behind her.

"Hey Raph, welcome back dude." He said as he held his arms out. Raphael came running out of the truck. It took Garnet a second to realize where he was going and with cat-like reflects, she ducked, letting Raph tackle Mikey to the ground.

"What a hot head." Leo said to Don. Garnet stood up and glared at Mikey.

"Dude, don't hide behind me when you piss Raph off. I'm not your savior!" She said. Garnet's ear twitched to the right, glancing out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed the men coming back out. Leo drew his katana and Don his Bo-staff. Garnet's eyes became slitted and cat-like as her claws grew out slightly, a growl could be heard from her. Another part of Garnet's mutation is that she can become a big cat (such as a lioness, tigress, etc.), usually she stands at six foot when transformed but she can also control the size.

"Raph, we don't have time for this." Leo said as he backed up.

"And why not?" Raph asked, his hands pinning Mikey to a column behind him.

"Cause we're not alone." Mikey said as he was slowly lowered to the ground. The men walked closer.

"Look at the freaks." The leader said.

"This ain't Halloween." Another said from behind him.

"You're going down freaks." The leader said as he twirled what looked like a Bo-staff between his fingers. "No one messes with the purple dragons and gets away with it." Within a matter of seconds, the five teens had knocked down almost all of the Purple Dragons but the leader, who ran when he saw the first opportunity.

"Let's get out of here!" He yelled as he ran for the opening of the alley, the downed Purple Dragons following him. Raph and Mikey high fived before Donnie stepped forward.

"Well, that was easier than expected." Raph turned to his younger brother.

"I hope there are more of those guys, I'm just getting started." He said as he flexed his arms. Garnet snorted before her ears began twitching around to see if they were in any more danger. A shadow loomed over the five mutant teens. Mikey turned and pointed to one of the roofs above them.

"Well, it looks like you got your wish Raphie boy." The rest of them turned also. Garnet's ears perked forward before lying flat, she didn't hear them coming and that was odd.

"Are those guys' ninjas?" Leo asked as he raised his blades. Right after the question, the ninjas jumped down and surrounded them. "Be ready for anything."

"I'm so gonna enjoy this." Raph said, glancing around the circle. Eyes turned to the girl as she kneeled down and began her transformation. Bones shifted, muscles became larger, skin stretched, and fur grew. Her crimson eyes changed to pure gold and her hands and feet became paws. When the transformation was complete, a large panther replaced the girl. The ninja took a cautious step back; they weren't prepared to fight an animal like that. The fight began, each having his (or her) own group of ninjas. The ones surrounding Garnet took extreme caution, all had out their weapons and were not close enough she could lunge for them. A snarl erupted from her chest as she snapped at one of the men.

In the back of her mind, behind the big cat's conscious, she heard the truck start. She turned and pinned her gold eyes on it, realizing that it was Donnie in the driver's seat. With a quick swipe of her paw to the left, half of the men around her had been knocked out. The other's retreated away from her. She turned and growled at them before she heard Mikey calling her. With a quick glance back at her brothers, she began to back up, keeping her eyes on the ninjas in front of her. When she reached the back of the truck she jumped inside, followed by Leo, Raph, and Mikey.

"Whoa! Nice driving Don, for a turtle with no license." Mikey said as he was bounced around from Donatello's driving. He fell off the bench and the three mutant turtles fell silent as a pair of gold eyes landed on the youngest turtle. Mikey had landed on her tail.

"Hey Garnet…" Raph said carefully from his place by her head. The eyes stayed on the turtle on her tail but her ears became trained on the red banded turtle. "You should change back; we're not in any more danger." Then her large head turned to look at the turtle. Within seconds, they could hear the sound of bones shifting, sliding, and cracking. The four turtles winced at the sound. Her paws became hands and feet as the fur disappeared and was replaced with skin. When the sickening sounding transformation was over, Garnet sat on the floor next to Raph's legs, leaning against them.

After stopping to throw the money at some police, Garnet vowed to herself that she would teach Donnie to drive because she didn't know how much more bouncing around she could take after her transformation. When they stopped at the meeting place Donnie turned off the car. The five teens jumped out and ran over to their father, Garnet jogged with a slight limp before hugging Splinter.

"I'm glad to see you too my children." Master Splinter said as he looked over his children.

"Master Splinter, so much has happened today." Leo said.

"Yes, yes. There will be time to tell me about it later, Leonardo. But first, I wish to take you all home." The teenagers all looked at each other before watching their father as he walked away.

"But Master Splinter… we have to home…" Garnet said as she wrapped her arms around herself in a hug. Raph laid a comforting hand on her back.

"Do not worry; I think I have found a solution to our problem." Their father said as he smiled back at his children. "Follow me my children." Leo followed first, then Donnie, Mikey (with a push from Raph), a chuckling Raph, and then Garnet. At the end of the tunnel, she noticed the shells piling up before she ran into her brothers. They all stood and followed their father before they came to an opening in the sewer. It was HUGE! There was more than enough room for Master Splinter and the five teenagers. They all went and picked their rooms before Garnet and Leo jumped down and walked over to Splinter.

"You see my children, change is good." Splinter said as he smiled at all of the teenagers.

"We couldn't agree more Master Splinter." Leo said with a smile on his face before he reached over and hugged his younger sister to his chest. Garnet smiled and wrapped her own arms around his shell.

"Good, so let's see you kids clean up for a change. This place is filthy." Master Splinter said causing the teenagers to groan.


	2. A Better Mousetrap

A/N: Here's the second chapter! Please review, favorite, and follow since Im still on the edge about continuing it. Please and thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**A Better Mousetrap**_

"_**It may not look like much but this tin toy can chomp his way through steel and concrete like Michelangelo through a pizza. A bunch of these Mouser robots saw fit to thrash our old lair and nearly turned our sensei into robo-chow. I look at these incredible machines and the techno-geek in me can't help but think awesome. But the ninja in me can't help but thinking payback." ~ Donatello**_

Garnet sighed as she whipped her forehead of sweat. They'd been working on getting the new lair nice and clean so that they could call the place home. Things were coming along nicely. She came out from cleaning all of the bedrooms and saw Mikey and Donnie finishing the final things in the living room. Garnet walked up behind Donnie; sitting on the table was a metal dinosaur. They'd found it when they were heading back to the old liar, it'd been destroyed when the roof collapsed. Garnet had the sneaking suspicion that this was the cause of them losing their past liar.

"Even though that thing is offline, it still gives me the creeps." She said to her slightly older brother. He looked at her and smiled slightly.

"This is state of the arts robotics… this is amazing." Donnie said. "I just gotta know what makes it tick." They turned and saw the lights of the Sewer Slider coming into their new lair. Leo jumped out with two boxes in his hands.

"Hey Mikey, good news. Your DVD collection survived and Garnet, your CD collection too." Leo threw Mikey his DVDs before handing Garnet her CDs.

"Thanks Leo." The woman smiled with a smile on her face. The eldest turtle smiled down at his little sister.

"No problem." Mikey wanted to watch a movie so he turned on the (at least) 10 TVs he'd put together. A news report was on about a man named Baxter Stockman. Garnet tuned it out as she looked through her CD collection, wanting to make sure that they were all there. She glanced at the TV and saw that the machine that Donnie was holding was on the screen and it was called a Mouser. She put down her CDs before walking over to stand next to her brothers and father. While watching the report, she turned quickly when Raph stabbed his sai through one of the TVs.

"I say we go to Stocktronics and kick some serious shell." Raph began running towards the door before Master Splinter stepped into his path.

"Absolutely not." Splinter said before smacking him on the head with his walking cane. "Your first time to the surface was a disaster. You cannot afford to be seen by more humans." Garnet turned back to the TV to watch Baxter's redheaded lab assistant pour a box of rats into a maze. Baxter then released the Mouser into the maze also. The next images were enough that Garnet looked away from the screen.

"Whoa, I'd hate to be a rat in this town…" Mikey said before he turned and looked at Splinter. "Oops, sorry sensei." The family watched the rest of the new report before the TV was turned off and they decided to do a little training. After the quick training session, Splinter began to make his way back to his room. Garnet stood, while rubbing her sore hip, and grabbed Raph's Sais. She walked up to the older turtle and handed them to him; he took them and placed them back in his belt while giving a nod to the woman.

"Well, I'm tired so I'm gonna turn in." Raph said as he stretched and yawned. Garnet, who by this time was resting her hips by sitting with Mikey, turned around and watched the red banded turtle make his way to his room.

"Since when does Raph turn in so early?" Leo asked. Garnet stood up and sighed before walking up the stairs to her own room. She stopped outside of Raphael's room before looking at it. With a sigh, she knocked and waited for Raph to let her in. The door opened and Raph stood in the doorway, he smiled slightly at the girl and let her in.

"What brings you here?" Raph's rough Brooklyn accent sounded so rough in the silent room. Garnet sat on his bed before looking at the turtle.

"I just wanted to ask you if you were planning on going to that place..." His eyes widen slightly before he turned away from the girl.

"What are you talking about?" Raph asked. Garnet sighed before standing up and walking over to the turtle. She stood in front of him; she was so close she was sure he could feel her body heat. She noticed a slight shiver rack his body.

"Don't play with me Raphael. I know you just as well as the rest of our brothers if not better." Raph's brown eyes looked into her crimson ones. "I don't want you to get hurt or in trouble with Splinter." The turtle nodded in understanding.

"I gotcha Garnet." The turtle said, his own accent making her shiver. She picked a hand up and placed it on his bicep.

"Just please, please don't get stupid on me." Raph nodded and looked back into her eyes. They stayed like that for a few seconds, just taking in how close they were. With a sigh, Garnet took a step back from Raph and smiled at him before walking towards the door and walking down the hall to her room. She glanced back at his room before opening her door and walking inside. Once the door was closed she leaned against it.

'_What the hell is wrong with me?'_ Garnet thought to herself. With a sigh, she grabbed one of her favorite books from her bookshelf and laid down on her bed, opening the book to the very first page and began reading. She could hear Donnie and Mikey leave; she assumed that Donnie had gotten the Mouser working because she had some new sounds. Garnet thought about following but her body was still recovering from her transformation and the training session so she decided to stay behind. As she read, she didn't notice her eyes getting heavier and heavier until finally, she fell asleep.


	3. Attack of the Mousers

A/N: The chapters have been pretty much in order of the series but from this point, they'll be scattered. Please let me know what you guys think!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**Attack of the Mousers**_

"_**A very wise frog once said, "It's not easy being green." But believe me; he didn't know the half of it. In the past 48 hours my brothers, sister, and I gave been attacked by killer robots, had our home cave in on us, and had a serious butt kicking ninja battle with some deadly ninja assassins. We made a shell-raising escape in an armored car, found a new place to live, and were attacked by even more killer robots. Oh, and we managed to perform our very first ninja rescue. This is the closest any of us have ever been to a human being and it raises one very big question… "Can we keep her?" ~ Michelangelo**_

Garnet was gently shaken awake. With a yawn and a stretch, she set her feet on the floor. She smiled up at Raphael and he smiled softly back.

"How long have I been out?" She asked softly as she rubbed her eyes.

"Apparently since Mikey and Donnie left, it's been almost an hour and a half." He said as he glanced at her alarm clock. Garnet nodded before standing up and looked at herself in her full length mirror, her hair was a bit of a mess but other than that she looked relatively normal… if you don't count the ears and tail. "Hey, come downstairs. There's something that we need ta show ya." Raph said as he reached out and grabbed Garnet's hand, gently pulling her to the door and then down the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, she saw something she never thought she'd see, a red headed** human** woman lying on the couch with Leo, Donnie, and Mikey watching her.

"What the hell?" Garnet asked as she let her hand fall from Raph's and walked over to the woman. She was out cold. "Where the hell did you find her?" She asked as she turned to look at her brothers.

"We're rescued her!" Mikey said loudly as he stepped forward. Garnet looked at her younger brother before looking down at the woman.

"Right…" She said almost absentmindedly. The woman began to stir before opening her eyes, this caused Garnet to jump up and take a few steps back from the couch.

"Oh man, what a dream…" The woman said. "Turtles fighting robots. Did I fall asleep watching TV again?" Garnet glanced at her brothers who tried to give her innocent smiles, she rolled her eyes. "That was the weirdest thing I've ever seen!" As she spoke her voice became higher and higher as she looked over the turtles. She began looking around and the lair. Mikey took a step forward before Garnet could stop him.

"Hi!" Mikey said directly in her face. The woman screamed. Mikey screamed. "Please don't do that." He said as he took a step back. "I almost jumped out of my shell."

"It has three fingers!" The woman picked up the pillow she was laying on before she put it over her head. She began chanting 'I'm asleep.' Garnet crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, that could have gone over better." She heard Raph grunt in agreement behind her.

"Hey, come on. We don't have much practice when it comes to talking to humans. It's gonna take a little time." Garnet glanced at the woman when she stopped chanting to pull the pillow off her head before covering it back and began chanting again. Mikey yawned before shaking his head.

"Man, she's making me sleepy." Garnet watched as Raph walked around the group to walk over to the armrest of the couch, he tapped the woman on the shoulder.

"Hey you." He said, causing the woman to lift the pillow of her head to look at him. "What do you know about those Mouser robot things?" He asked. She clutched the pillow to her chest.

"Well, at first I thought they were gonna be used to help clean up the cities rat problem but then I got suspicious when Dr. Stockman said…" She paused. "Oh no, I'm talking to it." She said.

"What?" Leo asked.

"I'm talking to it. To you. Alright April, you're talking to a giant, three fingered turtle. The only logical explanation is that you're dreaming. So everything's okay." April said to herself before she got a calm look on her face. She waved to the group. "Hello." Garnet blinked and her ear twitched, _'what the hell is wrong with this woman?' _She thought to herself.

"Hello April," Leo said. "How are you doing?" He asked. Garnet looked over at Donnie, Mikey, and Raph who rolled their eyes slightly.

"I remember when we met you… you weren't like this…" Mikey whispered to the cat-woman. She smiled slightly.

"I was five years old Mikey, I was a child that fantasized about having giant talking pets. That's what you all were to me until I was old enough to understand." She smirked and chuckled softly at Raph's grunt and glare. April small scream made the others turn to the red head. Master Splinter began walking over to the woman.

"Then perhaps you are ready to answer some questions." He said as he rested his paws on the top of his walking cane.

"You're a…" April never finished the sentence because she fainted.

"You sure have a way with the ladies Master Splinter." Donnie said. Garnet laughed when she watched Leo put his hands to his head. "Now what do we do?" He asked.

"Let's nudge her." Leo said with his hands still in place.

"I'll snap her out of it." Raph said.

"No Raph!" Garnet said as she pulled his back slightly by his mask tails. Today was going to be a long day.

**XXX**

An hour or so later, April began to stir again. Garnet then had an idea; she turned to her brothers and father.

"Everybody leave." They all looked at her confused. "Go to the kitchen, Leo make her tea and I'll try to convince her that you are all real." They nodded in agreement. They quickly exited the room and Garnet wrapped her tail around her waist to look like a fur belt. She untied the bandana that is around her wrist and gently tied it over her ears. The woman opened her eyes and Garnet kneeled down to her level.

"Hi April." The woman looked at her and blinked.

"Hi…" She said, slightly unsure of where the woman had come from when the last time she had her eyes open she saw four giant turtles and a giant rat.

"I'm Garnet; it's nice to meet you." She held her hand out to the woman. The redhead took it gently.

"It's nice to meet you too. I must have been dreaming I saw four giant turtles and a rat." Garnet smiled slightly.

"Well, you weren't imagining it." The woman looked at her with wide eyes. Garnet turned her head slightly and pointed to Mikey, who had his headphones in and was oblivious to anything around him. April took in a large shaky breath before nodding her head.

"So there is a possibility…" She glanced around before her eyes landed on Garnet once more. "You live here with them?" She asked. Garnet smiled slightly and nodded.

"Yeah, I was abandoned when I was five and these guys found me and took me in. They're my family." April watched Garnet explanation and saw that everything she was saying is true… and if it was… then she had nothing to fear. "So, we kinda need you to answer some questions for us. One of my brothers is in the kitchen making some tea for you." April nodded slightly before standing up and following the woman into the kitchen. Garnet pulled a chair out for her, April sat down a little unsure.

"Where's Mikey?" Raph asked as he came to stand next to Garnet. April turned and watched the pair.

"He's still in the den, in the chair with his MP3." She said as she leaned against the kitchen counter. Raph sighed before walking towards the den.

"I got him." Garnet smiled.

"Thanks Raph." The emerald turtle waved over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner. Everyone moved back to the living room, Garnet sat beside April; Don sat next to her on the arm rest. Splinter was in his chair across from April, Raph and Leo on each side of him.

"So, you okay now?" Mikey asked as if he was talking to a child. Garnet rolled her eyes.

"Yes, thanks." April said. "I decided this is a very long dream that I keep not waking up from or it's the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me."

"Young woman." Master Splinter said, catching her attention. "We have something most important we must discuss."

"What?" April asked.

"We have never revealed ourselves to the upper world. You have placed us all in great danger." Splinter said very seriously.

"But Master Splinter, she was in trouble and we helped her." Leo said.

"Yeah, aren't you always trying to teach us to do the right thing?" Raph asked.

"As you grow older you will learn that there are many ways to do the right thing." Splinter said while looking at Raph. He then sighed and looked at the ground. "But there is no going back. I'm afraid we find ourselves at your mercy."

"Oh, I would never tell anybody." April said as she watched Splinter. "I mean, who would believe me?" She asked.

"She's got a point." Don said from his place beside Garnet.

"Yeah, we're unbelievable!" Mikey said as he struck some poses. Raph stood next to him with his hands on his hips.

"Geez, where's you off switch?" He asked and Garnet chuckled slightly.

"Seriously, I promise." April said as she put her hand over her heart. Master Splinter stood from his chair and walked over to April before kneeling down to her level, looking into her eyes. He rat smiled.

"I believe you." Leo kneeled down next to him.

"Is this another lesson Master Splinter? How to sense the truth." Leo seemed so confident in his answer.

"No, this is called trusting your gut." Garnet snorted slightly, causing April to look at her before turning her attention back to Splinter and Leo.

"So, if I'm keeping your secret what exactly is it? Who are you people…uh…turtles…um…whatever?" Garnet smiled as Master Splinter began telling the story of how they all came to be.

"I have memories. Memories of when I used to be what you might call normal. I remember a day that started like many others but ended changing the course of many lives. I witnessed an accident." Garnet and her brothers sat in silence as she listened to Splinter tell the story of how her brothers and he came to be, she'd heard the story so many times but every time, it was always amazing to her. "Five years after finding the four turtle infants, I came across a small bag. While it had been in the sewer for a few days, it still had the scent of a human. Upon opening the bag, I saw a toddler inside with black cat ears and a tail. For her age she was intelligent and after seeing her mutation, for lack of a better word, I knew she would be staying with us." Garnet smiled as an ear twitched.

"Realizing that the world above is sometimes a dangerous place I began teaching them Ninjitsu. The secret arts of stealth and power and all that I knew of this world. From a battered book of Renaissance Art that I fished out of the storm drain, I chose names for each of them. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo, Garnet. Together they are…" Garnet smiled as she watched her brothers clap their hands together.

"Turtles forever!" Mikey left the group and came over to where to where the two women were sitting before leaning over Garnet to see April.

"Or something like that, you know, that we all yell at once." Garnet rolled her eyes and watched as Raph sat on the other side of April.

"First rule: Ignore Mikey." He said. "Your life will be much easier." With a snort Garnet spoke.

"Second rule: Ignore Raph." She smirked at the red banded turtle. "Your life will be much easier that way." He gave her a slight glare, the woman smiled before turning to Splinter.

"So we have remained in secret and that is our story." He finished as he stood up.

"But how did you know martial arts?" April asked.

"That is a story for another time." He said to the woman.

"Hey guys, look." Mikey said, drawing everyone's attention to the one working TV.

"_And the police are completely baffled by this daring bank robbery boldly executed in broad daylight. If anyone has any information the police urge you to call the crime stoppers hotline."_

"So, anybody wanna take a wild guess on what did this?" Mikey asked, sarcasm lacing his voice. April stepped closer to the TV to get a better look.

"This must have been what I heard Dr. Stockman talking about. He's got the Mouser's robbing banks." She said as she turned back to the group.

"What do you know about this Stockman guy?" Raph asked from his position on the couch.

"He's a genius. He's also nuts. I used to work for him but when I got suspicious he turned the Mousers on me. Luckily, I ran into you guys." April explained.

"He's the one who destroyed our old layer." Leo said, finally understanding how the old lair collapsing and these robots were connected.

"Must have been one of his Mouser test runs." April said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"But, that was our home…" Mikey said.

"Now he's graduated to banks!" Donnie said.

"Then what are we waiting for? I say we shut down Mouser central for good." Raph said as he took his Sais out of his belt and began twirling them. Garnet pushed her hair out of her face.

"Normally, I would disagree with Raph. But this time, I'm all for it. I say we go and teach Stockman a thing or two." She said as she flexed her arms a bit. She could feel Raph watching her. Mikey laughed from beside April.

"I just love those action movie lines. You write those yerself?" He asked as he walked over to Raph.

"It won't be easy; Stocktronics is rigged with the latest up to the minute security tech." April said to the family.

"Bring it on!" Mikey said as he walked up behind Donnie. "Allow me to introduce our very own secret weapon, the techno turtle himself, Donatello! Take a bow Don!" Donnie turned and smiled at Mikey.

"Ah, cut it out." The brainy turtle said in a playful voice.

"Can we go please?" Raph asked in a strained voice. Garnet rolled her eyes; this was going to be a long night. The turtles and the women packed everything they need before they began walking through the sewers, trying to find the manhole closest to Stocktronics, the walk was relatively silent. April lead the group before she stopped and pointed to something on the wall, from Garnet's spot in the back of the group, she had no idea what they were looking at but stayed quiet just like Donnie directed them to.

"Alarms in the sewers? Is this guy paranoid or what?" Mikey asked.

"Will you shut it?" Raph asked Mikey.

"What? I'm just saying…" Mikey said back.

"Can Donnie have some quiet?" Garnet asked as she glanced around Leo to look at the small group ahead of her.

"Yeah, this is delicate work." Donnie said as he was gently pulling wires from the small alarm system.

**XXX**

Raph and April were the first to leave the vent and Garnet couldn't help but feel a little bubble of jealously in her stomach before she shook her head. She was not jealous of April. No way, no how. She quietly followed the others inside the control room before she kneeled down, shifting into a large tigress. She noticed the wince on April's face and she could only imagine what it was like for someone new to hear her transformation for the first time. April recovered quickly and sat down at a computer before beginning to type.

"Okay, I'm in. I'm blanking the cameras along that corridor in ten second intervals. You've got to keep moving." She said before she turned back to the computer, typing again.

"We'll be right back." Leo said before the five made a quick getaway, not even waiting for April's reply. When they reached the main lab, the doors opened by themselves, allowing the five to see inside. It was dark, nothing could be seen except for the little bit of light that the open doors provided.

"This is too quiet…" Leo said as he walked into the room, Garnet and the rest of the brothers following behind him.

"Um… guys… my turtle sense is tingling." Mikey said. Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind them. Garnet turned quickly and threw herself into the door, shoulder first, in hopes that it could bend and open or bust down. The door held strong and did neither.

"Intruders!" A voice said over the mic system. "Here to steal my secrets… You'll leave here with nothing. Not even your lives." Garnet tuned the voice out, scratching and biting at the door to try and make it open. A growl left her lips as she glanced back at her hips; she'd been shot with a laser.

"Garnet!" Raph's voice preset her thoughts. She glanced up before turning and ducking behind a conveyer belt. She watched as the boys took out all of the lasers, when she felt it was safe enough, she took out from under the belt until she reached the wall farthest from the front door. She shifted back into her human form before looking down at her hip; there was a nice burn mark directly on her hipbone.

Raph gave a boost to Mikey, Leo, and Don to get them into the Stockman's control room before he turned to Garnet.

"You okay Gar?" He asked the woman, his eyes strayed down to her hip; it was beginning to pour blood. The woman nodded slightly.

"Yeah Raph, I'm fine." She looked up at the control room. "Give me a boost." Raph watched the woman for a second before bending his knees slightly and lacing his fingers together so that she could step into them before he threw her into the air. She grabbed the edge of the window before pulling herself up and into the room just before Raph jumped inside.

"What are you?' Stockman asked as he scanned over the mutated group of five. The doors opened and April stood on the other side, hands on her hips looking a bit pissed.

"They're with me." She said, causing Stockman to turn and look back at her.

"April?" He said surprised. "You're alive?" He asked, even more surprised this time.

"And kicking." April said as she walked into the room. "I've got enough evidence to put you away for years!" She said. Stockman crawled to his controls and pressed a button. Raph grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against a wall.

"That's enough!" Stockman closed his eyes from the impact before he smirked and chuckled.

"You're too late! I've recalled the Mouser hoard from their latest mission; they'll be here any second. They'll tear you to pieces." He seemed pretty pleased with himself.

"April?" Donnie asked. The redhead ran to the control before sitting down.

"I'll have to shut the whole system down." She said as she began typing. Donnie walked up to stand next to her.

"I'll help." He said.

"You're doomed." Stockman said, causing them all to look at him. "Listen…" Garnet's ears twitched to the door before she took in a deep breath.

"Damn…" She could hear the army of Mousers coming into the lab. April sat at the control's, typing away. Leo and Mikey looked out the open door, down the latter to look at the Mousers that were trying to climb them.

"The system isn't responding!" April said with desperation in her voice.

"You should have never matched wits with me." Stockman said as he got into the elevator, alerting us that he was getting away. Mikey ran to catch him but the doors closed before he could.

"Let him go, we have bigger problems…" Raph said as Leo, Mikey, Garnet, and himself turned to the Mousers, who had actually been able to climb their way up.

"Oh well, at least we'll go down fighting." Raph said. Garnet placed a hand on her hip, trying to stop the bleeding.

"You know, I would rather not." She said, a small amount of pain evident in her voice. Raph glanced at her before turning his gaze back to the Mousers.

"It's not working!" April was frustrated.

"Keep trying!" Donnie encouraged.

"Well, it's been fun guys…" Raph said.

"Even me Raph?" Mikey asked in a cheerful voice.

"Even you Mikey. Especially you Mikey." Raph said with a smile on his face. Garnet smiled softly, it was nice to see her brothers getting along, it didn't happen often. Suddenly, the advancing robots just stopped. Leo must've felt brave for he took out one of his katanas and poked one of the robots nose. Suddenly the boys cheered. Garnet smiled before kneeling down, her hand still pressed against the bleeding wound.

"Good job April." Donnie said, a large smile on his face. "I've never seen anything like that."

"Guys, guys! I wasn't able to shut them down." April said slightly panicked.

"They look pretty shut down to me." Mikey said as he held one up to his head, pressing his finger to its nose.

"The only way I could stop them was initiating an overload sequence." Garnet's eyes widen.

"That means…" Mikey began. "Let's get out of here!" He yelled. Leo and Mikey went out the broken window first. Donnie grabbed April, bridal style, before following them. With slight difficulty, Garnet got to her feet. She squealed slightly when she was picked up.

"Come on girly." Raph said as he picked her up, following their brothers out the window. Within seconds of Raph landing on the ground, the Mousers exploded, causing the building to catch fire.

**XXX**

'_And the authorities are completely perplexed by the destruction of the Stocktronic building and the sudden disappearance of Dr. Baxter Stockman.' _The reporter on TV said.

"What will you do now Ms. O'Neil?" Master Splinter asked. "You are most definitely out of a job."

"I'm not exactly sure…" April said. Donnie had just finished wrapping Garnet's hip when he stood and walked over to April.

"We'll help you get back on your feet." He said, almost sweetly. Garnet looked at Raph before pretending to gag. He chuckled quietly.

"Oh guys, you all have been great." April said with a smile on her face. Garnet got up and walked over to the group. She smiled her thanks to Leo when he handed her a cup of tea.

"Here's to the new team!" Leo said. The rest of the group smiled before tapping his glance with theirs.


	4. Meet Casey Jones

A/N: Okay, this one is in order of the series too. I got a little a head of myself, lol. I wanted to thank everyone who read this story, I've gotten over 200 views in four days! Thank you to all and please review! I would really appreciate it!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**Meet Casey Jones**_

"_**I guess you can call it fate but I'd finally met someone as angry as I am and he was really making me mad. My name is Raphael and the bozo in the Hockey mask is about to find out just how angry I can be!" ~ Raphael**_

Raphael fell into a pile of empty boxes after being kicked in the stomach by Mikey. Mikey walked closer to the downed turtle while chuckling.

"Nice fall Raphael. Come on back if you want some more of that." He said and Garnet couldn't resist the eye roll from the rhyming. Raph stood from the pile of boxes and pulled a box off of his head.

"You've had it Mikey!" He growled out as he threw the box aside. "Bro or no, you've got to go." Raph said as he jumped into the air, punching at Mikey. The younger turtle easily evaded it.

"Good reverse punch." One kick. Two kicks. Three kicks. "Nice roundhouse kick too, Raph." Mikey said while evading each one. "Whoa, nice dragon punch too but you're just a little too slow!" Mikey said before slapping Raph on the shell, causing the turtle in red to fly forward. "Actually, much too slow." Garnet smiled and nodded slightly to her eldest brother and father as they came into her charged at Mikey, landing a solid punch, making the younger slid back into a wall. Raph ran at him again, punching and kicking.

"You think you're better than me? Do you?!" Raph yelled as he charged their brother once again. Their hands connected and fingers laced as they began to push against each other.

"No, you're just too cocky!" Mikey said as he easily deflected Raph. The larger turtle landed on a table, breaking it. Mikey began walking towards Garnet, Leo, Donnie, and Splinter. "Winner and still champion, Michelangelo!" Garnet smiled at her younger brother but it quickly faded when she saw Raph stand with a pipe in his hand. Raph growled before jumping into the air, landing on Mikey, pinning him down with his knee.

"Wait! Raph, don't!" Mikey brought his hands up to block his head. Leo grabbed Raph's raised arm, Garnet wrapped her arms around Raph's torso, trying to pull the large turtle off.

"Raphael! Have you lost your mind!?" Leo asked.

"Raph! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Garnet asked as she pulled a little harder. Donnie kneeled to check on Mikey when the two were able to pull Raph off of him.

"You okay Mikey?" Donnie asked concerned. "What were you thinking Raph?" Donnie asked the hotheaded turtle. Raph looked at Donnie before looking down at Mikey, who kept his hands and arms above his head. Garnet could feel her arms moving with Raph's chest as he panted, out of breath.

"I… Leo…" He dropped the pipe. "Mikey, I…" Leo and Garnet let go of Raph and stood up straight. Garnet watched as Raph closed his eyes and placed a hand to his head.

"My son, so angry. Rage is a monster that will destroy you from within. Raphael, a true warrior finds balance in all things." Master Splinter said. Raph stood up and looked down at his hands.

"Master Splinter, I… I gotta get some air!" Raph said before he began running out of the lair. Mikey took a few steps to follow him before Master Splinter put a hand on his arm. Garnet glanced down at Splinter before she closed her eyes and began running after him.

"Garnet!" Master Splinter called her name. She stopped and turned to him.

"I'm sorry Master Splinter. I know he needs air but I can't let him go topside alone. I have to be there." Before splinter could open his mouth she bowed slightly. "I'm sorry." She turned and ran towards the entrance.

**XXX**

Once Garnet hit the surface, she followed Raph's scent until she got the roof. She saw Raph sitting on the edge of the building, breathing in deep. Garnet watched the turtle for a moment before she took a few steps closer to him.

"Raph…" The turtle turned to her before looking back out at the street.

"Go home Garnet." He said, his voice completely monotone. Her eyes softened.

"No Raph, you need to talk to someone." She came closer to him.

"What is there to talk about, I lost it." He closed his eyes. Garnet sat next to him on the edge.

"So you almost made a mistake. Big deal." Raph turned to her and glared.

"Big deal? I almost kill Mikey and you say big deal…" Garnet glared back.

"Look Raph, you almost did but you didn't. As much as Mikey annoys you, deep in your heart you would never hurt him. I know that for a fact. That is why you are up here, to think about it." Raph closed his eyes. She laid her hand on his shoulder. "Relax and come home Raph. Mikey isn't mad at you." His bright brown opened and he looked at Garnet.

"You sure?" He asked, his voice quiet. She smiled softly.

"Yeah, I am." Her crimson eyes gazed into his as he leaned in slowly. Her eyes widen slightly before she began to lean in too. Suddenly, a voice caused them to pull away from each other, their cheeks painted a red color. They looked down into the alley, a woman was surrounded by Purple Dragons but at the opening of the alley was a man in a hockey mask.

"Purple dragons! Come out and play!" The man said in a sing-song voice as he hit a hockey stick against the top of trash can. The Dragons left the woman alone as they charged the man.

"Looks like this is gonna be fun." Raph said with a smirk on his face. The guy was good for an everyday street fighter. Raph jumped down from the roof before Garnet could say anything. She watched as Raph talked to the guy for a moment before the man pushed Raphael away from him. While the man was distracted, the Dragons ran off. Once the Dragons were out of sight, the man turned and punched Raph.

"Well, that's my cue." Garnet said to herself as she jumped down and landed beside the downed turtle. She helped him up as the man ran after the Dragons. Garnet's ears twitched as she watched Raph bend down and grab the woman's purse before giving it to her.

"Sorry about all this, here's your purse ma'am." He said very politely as he handed her the purse. She snatched the purse from his hands.

"Keep away from me you lizard thing!" She yelled as she back up slowly before she ran out of the alley. Raph looked shocked before he growled and ran down into the alley. Garnet sighed before following the turtle. As they rounded the corner, in the next alley, they could hear the sounds of someone getting beat down. Raph peeked around the corner and Garnet peeked around him, the three Dragons and the same guy is what she saw.

"Unbelievable…" Raph said quietly. Garnet nodded. "This guy just won't quit." Raph suddenly ran around the corner, jumped, and kicked the man square in the chest. "I told ya ta cool it pal." Raph said as he pointed to the downed man.

"Yeah, and I told you to stay out of my way." The man said as he stood up. "Since your ears don't seem to be working, I'm gonna have to get my point across a whole nother way." Garnet rubbed her eyes.

"And I followed him because?"

**XXX**

"Listen, I'm trying to tell you something…" Raph said as he and the man circled each other. "But you're really workin' on my last nerves."

"Is that right?" The man asked as he swung his hockey stick at Raph. The turtle just ducked out of the way.

"I think you're trying to do the right thing but you're going about it all wrong. You gotta get control of yourself." Raph said to him. Garnet looked up from her claws.

"Isn't that a contradictory statement Raph?" She asked. The turtle glanced back at her before rolling his eyes slightly.

"Look freak boy, if you're protecting these Purple Dragons scum then you're in my way and you're going down too." The man swung his hockey stick at Raph's head, the turtle easily avoided him. Garnet stood up and pulled out her Tessen but the woman lost interest when the boys began speaking sports lingo. The woman rolled her eyes and replaced her Tessen into the straps on her legs. Garnet was never one to fight and she knew that Raphael could handle himself so she just sat quietly and watched them.

"Hey, you gotta listen to me. You're angry, I can understand that, believe me. " Raph said. The woman nodded.

"Seriously." The turtle glanced over his shoulder at her before turning back to the man.

"But what if you grab the wrong guy?" Raph asked. "What if you go too far? Get yourself in real trouble?" The man took a baseball bat to Raph, knocking him off his feet into a wall. Garnet watched silently, those questions were more for Raphael himself about what happened with Mikey earlier. He was really upset with himself. Hockey boy took a few steps closer to Raph.

"I got my reasons for doing what I do and they got nothing to do with you."

"Fine, all you wanna do is fight." Raph kicked the man down. "Then let's fight." Again, the man knocked Raph off his feet and this time, he was angry. He quickly got up and kicked the man into a wall. The man closed his eyes, trying to regain his breath before Raph came up and pulled the mask off his face. Suddenly, Raph stopped.

"What? What am I doing?" He asked himself. "We're on the same side. We shouldn't be fighting. We both just need to get a hold of ourselves…" As Raph helped the guy up, Garnet noticed that his hand gripped the golf club. When the man was standing fully, he grabbed his mask back. Garnet's ears lay against her head as she took a few steps closer to the pair but still out of sight.

"You know, you're right. You've shown me the error of my ways." Garnet's ears perked forward, sarcasm dripped from his voice. "NOT!" He yelled loudly as he raised the golf club. Garnet sprinted and knocked Raph out of the way before the club came into contact with the back of her head, rendering her unconscious.

**XXX**

The pair sat silently, looking at the dark haired woman on the ground. They waited for her to move, open her eyes, or make a sound but she never did.

"Garnet!" Raph called her name as he ran to her and rolled her over. She didn't make a sound. Raph was extremely worried.

"I…" The man began before he turned and ran down the alley. Raph watched him, wanting to go after him but he didn't want to leave Garnet alone. With a sigh, he leaned down and gently maneuvered the woman onto his back. He jogged after the man, trying to keep up with the man without jarring the woman too much.

**XXX**

"What the shell happened?" Garnet said a quiet voice as she rubbed her head. Raph was sitting next to her.

"The bozo got away and he knocked you out before that." She turned her head to look at him before she sat up.

"Damn, that hurt…" She said. The turtle nodded before standing up, holding his hand out to the woman.

"Come on; let's head back to the lair." Raph said. The woman nodded slightly and placed her hand in his. He gently pulled her to her feet. They walked to the nearest manhole cover, Raph pulled it off and let Garnet down first. He followed and replaced the cover where it belonged. It was silent as they walked through the sewers. Raph bumped Garnet's shoulder with his, causing the woman to look at him.

"Thanks for coming after me and everything, even if you didn't do much." He said with a chuckle. The woman shook her head and bumped his shoulder with her's.

"I didn't have to do anything, everything you said to that guy is pretty much everything you needed to figure out on your own." She smiled at the turtle to gazed back at her quietly and thoughtfully.

"I guess you're right." He said quietly. "But thanks anyway." He said as he sent her a smile. She smiled back, pushing some of her bangs out of her face.

"No problem Raphie." She said with a small laugh. He gave her a playful glare.

"Don't call me that." He said. Her smile became a little wider.

"Okay _Raphie._" She squeaked and ran down the sewer back to the lair with a large, laughing turtle right on her heels.

**XXX**

The rest of the turtles and their father were discussing about the new above ground warehouse when they heard a squeal of laughter. They turned to the entrance of the lair and saw Raphael with his arms wrapped around Garnet from behind, spinning her around, causing the pair to laugh. Master Splinter smiled at seeing his hotheaded son and daughter happy. The large turtle set her down on her feet, small giggles escaping the pair as they walked towards the rest of their family.

"Welcome home Gar, Raph." Mikey said to the pair. "Man, you look like you got the shell kicked out of you." Garnet's hand came up to rub the back of her head.

"Yeah, don't remind me Mike." Raph glanced at the woman before turning back to the rest of his family.

"Yeah, it's a long story but first I… I wanted to apologize. Mikey, I'm sorry I got so out of control earlier. Guys, I'm really sorry." Garnet smiled softly at the hotheaded turtle before placing a hand on his shell, rubbing it slightly. Mikey came up to the other side of Raph and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

"Hey, don't sweat it bro." The woman smiled, at least Mikey forgave him.

"Alright, who are you? And what have you done with our brother, Raphael?" Leo asked in a playful voice.

"Let's just say I had a chance to think about how I've been acting." Raph said before he turned to Mikey. "I'll fill you in after dinner." Mikey smiled.

"Dinner?! Now you're talking my language!" The family smiled before heading into the kitchen.

"What language is that Mikey? Nitwit?" Raph smiled at his younger brother.

"Ha ha, listen to the funny mutant." Mikey said as he slapped Raph on the back.

**XXX**

Dinner was uneventful; Raph and Garnet told their story from the surface. Raph insisted that Donnie check the woman's head, to which she resisted, but it ended up happening anyway. She just had a bump, nothing major. When Master Splinter went to his room, Raph told the rest of his brothers about the man's attempt to fight Raph Friday. The teens decided to stop him before then.

"I don't know Raph, we should probably tell Master Splinter." Leo said as the group of five walked towards the entrance of the lair.

"And have him stop us from going topside? We have to find that vigilante wackbag and stop him, for his own good. He's not a bad guy, just a little misguided." Raph said. Suddenly, the lights were flipped on, temporarily blinding the teens for a few seconds. Master Splinter cleared his throat.

"Busted…" Mikey said.

"How many times have I told you not to sneak up to the surface?" Master Splinter asked, his eyes on the teens.

"This month?" Mikey asked innocently.

"512, actually." Donnie said. Garnet rolled her eyes.

"Who actually counts something like that?" She mumbled under her breath.

"It is dangerous for you to go openly in the world above. You cannot simply walk amongst the humans." His eyes strayed to his daughter for a moment. "They will not accept who and what you are. It is, as the great sage and warrior Kenji Hasimura said… Why walk when you can ride?" Garnet and Raph blinked at their father for a moment before Raph tilted his head to the side.

"Come again?" He asked. Master Splinter smiled at them. He directed them to the new opening in the lair.

"Take the truck." Master Splinter said. The doors closed and the ride to the surface began.

"That was unexpected." Garnet said. The boys nodded. Shortly after, the ride was over and the door opened up.

"Alright, we got until Friday night to make this bad boy turtle ready." Raph said as they looked at the armored car that they had taken earlier in the week.

"Let's get to work." Donnie said as he exited the elevator to begin working. Garnet sat back and watched, she always loved mechanical things just like her brother but she was never the one to make them. Usually she took them apart and then her brainy brother would put them back together for her. The four turtles stood beside her as they looked at the truck.

"Now this is a ride!" Raph said as he extended his arms towards the truck.

"You ain't seen nothing yet." Donnie said as he pulled his goggles off of his head. "Let's roll!" The teens jumped inside the truck and began to get situated. Seatbelts were put on before Donnie started up the engine. They pulled out of the garage quickly, Donnie's driving had improved ten-fold since the last time he'd driven this thing.

"And on your left is Central Park, 843 acres of landscaped beauty in the center of the city." Donnie said as they drove by the park.

"Wait!" Raph yelled, causing Garnet to jump slightly. "There he is!" Raph was looking out the window and sure enough, the same guy she'd seen earlier rode by on the back of a bike. Raph unbuckled his seatbelt before standing up, leaning over Don's seat.

"Floor it Don, keep up with him." Raph said to the turtle driving.

"You go get him Raph; I whipped up something special for you." Donnie said as he pointed to the back of the truck, with a goofy smile on his face. "It's in the back." Raph walked to the back of the truck and stopped to look at the motorcycle sitting there.

"Like it?" Donnie asked from the driver's seat. "I call it the Shell Cycle."

"Donatello, you are the turtle." Raph said as he picked up the red and black helmets sitting on the seat. "Gar, come on." The woman turned at looked at the hotheaded turtle.

"Why do I need to go?" She asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Cause he knocked you out, freaked out when you didn't move. Maybe you being there will make things a little easier to talk to him." Raph said as he held out the black helmet to the woman. She nodded slightly and walked over to the turtle, accepting the helmet from his extended hand, slipping it over her head while being careful of her ears. Raph slipped his helmet on before getting on the bike first, holding it steady for Garnet to get on. Raph reeved the bike a few times before jumping out of the Battle Shell onto the road, the picture of control.

"He so likes her." Mikey said from his place in the passenger seat. Don and Leo gazed at their younger brother for a moment before nodding.

"Yep." Leo said as he leaned back into his seat.

"Totally." Donnie said as he focused on driving.

**XXX**

"Hey hotshot! Slow it down!" Raph called out to the man once he and Garnet had caught up with him. He ignored Raph and sped up again, cutting a corner. Raph followed the man's path, popping a wheelie as he did so. He glanced back when he heard Garnet squeak and wrap her arms around the turtle tighter.

"Warn me next time!" She yelled so that he could hear her over the wind. He chuckled slightly before speeding up again to catch the vigilante. They went around another corner and Raph popped another wheelie. He received the same response from Garnet, with a punch on the shoulder to add. He was once again beside the man when he yelled to him again.

"Pull over!" The man just looked at him but didn't respond. Raph pushed in his own brake, slowing himself down enough that he could come around the backside of the man. He pulled beside him one more time. "I said, pull over!" Raphael reached over and put his hand on the man's brake. They were going fast enough that the brakes began to spark and he sent the man heels over head. Raph slid to a stop and watched him for a moment. Garnet glanced at the ground, _'do I have time to make a break for it?'_ She asked herself this question and began to loosen her arms from their grip.

"Time for a little shellshock." Raph said before he began reeving his bike again. Garnet quickly wrapped her arms around the turtle as he took off again. As he neared the man, he jumped off the bike, diving into him. Garnet's eyes widen before she slid towards the handlebars and pressed the brakes slowly to slow down the bike. When it slid to a stop she turned to Raphael and the wackjob, they were talking… civilly. When Garnet decided it was safe, she set the kickstand up before sliding off and walking towards the pair.

"So don't tell me how to deal with Purple Dragons!" The man said loudly as the woman stopped between the pair. Raph walked closer to the man.

"Just be careful, your anger can take you down." He said, pressing his finger to the man's chest. "Make you act just like them." He paused before lowering his head. "My father once told me a true warrior finds balance in all things." Garnet nodded slightly with a small smile. At least something Splinter was trying to teach them was sticking with the turtle.

"Balance huh?" The man asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, you know, as much balance as a couple of hotheaded wackbags like us can manage." Raphael said, crossing his own arms over his chest. Garnet chuckled and shook her head. The man raised an eyebrow at Raph.

"Me?" He pointed his finger at the turtle. "You're the only wackbag around her doc." He had a playful smile on his face.

"Hey, I'm not half as crazy as you." Raph said he playfully punched the man's arm.

"Sorry but for a little green dude, you are totally nuts." The man said, punching Raph in the arm a little harder. The woman sighed and rolled her eyes before she stepped forward between the two. She placed a hand on each one's chest.

"Okay boys, as much as I would like to figure out who is the craziest, I don't think a fight needs to break out in the park." She lowered her arms and placed her hands on her hips as she looked at both of them. Raph raised an eye ridge at her.

"What are you talking about Gar? We're just playing around…" The woman rolled her eyes.

"And you are both hotheads… let's see how long it takes…" She crossed her arms over her own chest. Raph nodded slightly before smiling softly at the woman.

"You're the girl from before?" The man asked as he gazed at her. She turned to him and nodded.

"Yeah, the one you hit." She said with a small bit of sarcasm and bite in her voice. The man rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was trying to get the green one behind you." Garnet rolled her eyes and smiled slightly.

"It's cool." She said as she turned to Raph.

"Well, isn't this romantic." A new voice entered the conversation. She turned and saw that they were surrounded with Purple Dragons.

"So when you said that I'd go too far and get myself into trouble… you meant something like this?" The vigilante said.

"Something like it." Raph said as he, Garnet, and the man whose name they still didn't know pushed their backs together. Suddenly, the Battle Shell came into view and it took everything within Garnet not to scream hallelujah. It slid to a stop a few feet away from the three. The backdoors opened and Leo, Don, and Mikey jumped out, running over to them.

"Friends of yours?" The man asked as the three formed a line in front of the red banded turtle and the woman.

"Brothers actually." The woman said with a smile on her face.

"In him, I can see the family resemblance." The man looked at the turtles before turning to the woman. She smirked at him.

"Adopted." The man nodded before turning back to the task at hand. Mikey turned around.

"I'm the pretty one." Garnet rolled her eyes before smacking him in the back of the head. Raph and Garnet pulled out their weapons. The man pulled his mask down and grabbed his hockey stick. The fight began and Garnet lost track of her family while focusing on dodging. She moved quickly and easily with her Tessen, easily dodging blow after blow.

"Hey guys, check it out! I got my split kick right!" Leo called out to them. Garnet turned to look at her older brother; he'd been trying to perfect that kick for weeks.

"I miss it." Raph kicked a dragon down. "Let me see it again." Leo jumped up and did a perfect split kick. He landed and smiled. Garnet kicked a guy with a jump front snap kick before turning back to him.

"One more time!" She called out to him. He jumped up and kicked two more dragons with a perfect kick.

"Yeah!" She yelled to him, pumping her hand in the air. Raph replaced his Sais on his belt and laughed.

"I saw that one!" He said. Garnet put her Tessen back into the holders on her legs before she held up ten fingers.

"I give you a ten!" The man said. Garnet smiled.

"Me too Leo!" She laughed as Leo turned to them.

"Hey Raph, only a six?" He asked as he threw his elbow back into a dragon running behind him.

"Bro, it's all I got!" Raph said before kicking another dragon. One by one, the dragons fell. It didn't take long at all. Garnet sighed as she sat down on the grass.

"I know I'm gonna regret saying this, but I'm glad I met you crazy man." Raph said as he looked up at the tall human. Garnet leaned back onto her hands and looked at the man over shoulder.

"Yeah, me too. Although, the blow to the back of the head wasn't necessary." He gave her a sheepish smile before turning back to the emerald turtle.

"Me too Green dude. Hey, you know something; I'm starting to see what you're all about." This caused Raph to smile.

"Oh, you mean about balance and self-control." Raph said. Garnet rolled her eyes.

"When have you ever had those Raph?" She asked. The man chuckled.

"No, I mean that you're a green mutant freak." He said punching Raph on the shoulder. "But I like ya." Garnet and the other brothers watched as the friendly punching became an actually fight.

"He's your brother." Leo said to Mikey.

"No, no. He's your brother." Mikey said back to Leo.

"Absolutely your brother." Leo said as his gaze turned back on the fighting two, his hands on his hips. Garnet rolled her eyes.

"Alright guys, let's head home. We can leave the bikes or something, I ain't waiting." Garnet stood from the grass and dusted herself. She watched the pair for a moment before walking back towards the Battle Shell. She heard the boys stop fighting and follow her. It had been a long, rather interesting day and Garnet was more than ready to get into bed and sleep the day away tomorrow.


	5. The Way of Invisibility

_**The Way of Invisibility**_

"_**Ever seen one of those old movies where the private eye wakes up after being knocked out cold, he always says the same thing, **__where am I? __**Okay, so it's not exactly original but it's true. I have no idea where I am. Is this an operating room? Torture chamber? TV game show? Last thing I remember I was bapping a bunch of street thugs with Casey. Okay, definitely not a game show. " ~ Raphael**_

Leo, Don, Mikey, Raph, and Garnet stood atop pieces of bamboo as they watched Master Splinter light a candle. They were all trying to keep their balance, as it was a part of the exercise for today.

"My children, tonight our training shall focus on combining two essential disciplines. The way of balance," Master Splinter clapped his hands, turning the lights out. "And the way of invisibility."

"Dude! You put in the clapper?" Mikey asked Don before Splinter smacked him on the hand with his cane. "Ow!" Mikey rubbed his injured hand.

"Michelangelo, the way of invisibility also includes the way of silence. I suggest you employ both if you wish to avoid my walking stick." Splinter said as he jumped from bamboo to bamboo. He jumped to Leonardo first, swinging the stick at his legs. Leo jumped to avoid it but when he landed, he landed on two separate pieces of bamboo which almost made him do a split.

Donnie jumped at Master Splinter, leg poised to kick. Splinter avoided it and Donnie had managed to land steadily on a piece of bamboo. Raph jumped from piece to piece as he headed towards Splinter. He kicked the same as Donatello and managed to land steadily on a single piece also. Splinter turned and jumped in Garnet's direction. She bent her knees slightly, ready to make a getaway. He swung it at her head, she ducked. He swung it at her feet; she propelled herself backwards before landing on her hands. She then flipped herself onto her feet.

Mikey performed the same move before stopping in a crouched position and clapping his hands. The lights came on and he stood to full height.

"Peek-a-boo, I see you." He said as he watched Master Splinter. That didn't stop Splinter from trying to hit Mikey with his stick. The young turtle caught it but was easily thrown off balance; he fell but managed to grab bamboo to keep himself from hitting the ground. "Hey, don't I at least get points for creativity."

"A creative mind must be balanced by a disciplined body." Splinter said before clapping again. The lights when out once more. "You must learn stillness and alertness. For they are the only defense against the unexpected." Garnet's ears twitched when he thought she heard one of the lair doors open but with Master Splinter talking, she couldn't be sure so she simply pushed it into the back of her mind.

Suddenly, all of the bamboo sticks began to fall, causing the turtles, rat, and woman to fall to the floor. Garnet lay on her stomach with Mikey on top of her.

"Mikey… get the hell off of me!" The youngest turtle rolled off of his sister.

"Sorry." He mumbled as he rubbed his head, which she was sure he'd hit in the fall. Garnet turned when she heard a thump and saw Master Splinter pinning down Casey. The five teens got up and rushed over to the pair.

"Master Splinter, no!" Leo said to the rat. "He's okay."

"Sensei, this is Casey the nutca- uh… the guy we told you about." Donatello said as he stumbled what to call Casey while in the man's presence.

"You remember the igilantiva…" Mikey said to Splinter. Garnet's crimson eyes rolled.

"We figured it be okay to give him access to the lair, ya know for emergencies and stuff." Raph said as Master Splinter released Casey. Splinter bowed to him.

"Please forgive my rash actions." Donnie and Mikey reached down to help the man up.

"No problemo." Casey said as he slid the hockey mask off his face.

"Although next time you'd be wise to heed the ancient Japanese proverb… phone first." Splinter said as he walked away. Raph gave Casey the thumbs up and the man began to look around the lair.

"Whoa Raph, your crib is even more awesome then you said." Casey walked away from the teens, kicking a piece of bamboo in the process. Master Splinter shook his head as he continued to clean up.

"You didn't come all the way down here for the nickel tour. What's the 411 street side?" Raph asked the teens came over to the man.

"Graffiti, it's everywhere. All over town." Casey said.

"And I think I speak for everyone in the room when I say, duh!" Mikey said, glancing at his brothers and sister.

"We're New Yorkers Casey, we've seen graffiti before." Donnie said.

"Not this kind." Casey said as he held up a photo for the teenage mutants to see. The picture was of a sword, four turtles and a cat speared on it. "I think someone's trying to send you a message."

"Bleh, talk about getting the point." Mikey said. Garnet turned to look at her brother.

"Really Mikey? What kinda pun was that?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. The young turtle looked at her and rolled his own eyes.

"Do all the tags look like this?" Leo asked.

"Some are a little more graphic." Casey said as he placed the picture back in his pocket. Suddenly, something caught Casey's eye. "Hey, cool sword. Looks just like the one in the graffiti." He pushed between Mikey and Don to get a closer look at the sword. The man reached for it.

"Casey, no!" Donnie yelled at him. When Casey's hand wrapped around the hilt of the sword, it began sparking and threw him back into a bookshelf.

"Remind me, whose idea was it to invite him down here?" Donnie asked as he looked over at Raph and Garnet. The woman shrugged before she followed Leo and Mikey to the downed man. Master Splinter even came over to the man.

"I thank you for this information Mr. Jones." Splinter said as he led the man towards the main entrance of the lair. "But now, we must return to our training."

"Wait." Casey said stopping and turning around to the teens. "Don't you wanna put the smack down on the scum who did this?" He asked.

"Well yeah." Mikey answered. "But it smells way too much like a set up." Garnet nodded her head.

"For once, I gotta agree with Mikey." She said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Someone's just trying to get under our shells." Donnie said. "Why should we stoop to their level?" He asked Casey.

"But this is a matter of honor." Casey said as he pulled a baseball bat out of the bag on his back. Garnet rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, leaning her weight onto right leg.

"It still doesn't matter. That would be a form of revenge and that doesn't make it right just cause of a bunch of nasty wall doodles." She said. Raph nodded before jabbing his thumb at her.

"Sorry Case, but I gotta go with my family on this one." They resumed leading the man to the lair entrance.

"Oh man." Casey said. As he walked he placed the baseball bat back into the bag. He paused and looked towards the living room, where all of the TVs were. "Hey!" He began walking towards them. Leo stopped and turned to Don and Garnet behind him. He pointed towards the man, Don shrugged his response and Garnet rolled her eyes.

"You know, if you keep doing that they're gonna get stuck that way." Raph said as he came to stand beside the woman, smirking at her. She shook her head and nudged his shoulder with her's.

"Whatever." They turned back to Casey and watched the man sit down, grab a slice of pizza, and turned the TVs on. This was going to be a long day.

**XXX**

Casey had been in the lair for a couple of hours. Finally, Garnet couldn't stand it anymore. She sat in the kitchen with Leo, drinking tea. She set her cup down forcefully.

"I can't take him being here! I can barely handle him above ground, let alone in our home." She said turning to her eldest brother. The blue banded turtle nodded his head.

"I completely understand." He said before taking a sip of his own tea. Garnet watched him for a moment before she got up and walked into the living room. Casey was shoveling pizza down his throat before he turned to a box sitting on the couch, Mikey's DVD collection. Garnet walked towards the couch, her heels clicking as she did so. She grabbed the remote off the arm of the couch before turning off the TVs. She turned to the man.

"Sure is getting late." She said. He totally ignored her before turning to Mikey.

"These the only DVDs you got?" He asked the youngest turtle. Mikey stood.

"Yeah, in fact, why don't you borrow some and bring them back." Garnet knew Mikey was just as tired of the man as she was. Perks of being the same age is knowing the similar likes and dislikes of the other. Mikey handed him the box but Casey handed it back.

"That's okay; I'll just watch 'em here." He said, apparently not understanding the hints both younger teens were dropping on him. Garnet shared a look with Mikey as Casey tried to get the DVD player to work. When it didn't work, he decided an Axe Kick would be the best course of action. The player sparked and died… and Mikey screamed like a girl.

"Uh, I think your players broken." Casey said as he looked at it. Garnet's ears twitched in aggravation before she sighed.

"Um, no problem. I'll fix it _in the morning._" Don said from his lab. He put emphasis on the 'in the morning' to hopefully tell Casey to GO HOME… at least, in a nice way. It didn't work. The man decided to see what Donnie was working on in his lab and Garnet knew that wasn't going to end well. Donnie covered it with his arms and chest.

"Boring stuff. Really boring stuff." He said. Casey then set his sights of Raphael, who was working out by punching the punching bag. The larger man jumped Raph before they began rolling around on the floor. Master Splinter placed a paw on his head before shaking it. Leo, Mikey, Garnet, and Donnie watched them rolling like a train wreck. Master Splinter finally got fed up and sent Casey and Raph to the surface, within seconds they were running to the elevator, calling each other names.

"And that's how they defeated _the Thing that Wouldn't Leave._" Mikey said. Garnet snorted and walked over to the bookshelf and grabbing her favorite book, Women's Murder Club 2nd Chance. Living with these turtles meant you took some peace and quiet when you could. So she walked to the couch and sat down, curling her feet underneath her and opening the book to the last page she was on.

**XXX**

Garnet sat on the couch while the boys continued training. Master Splinter had said it was alright that she finished training for the day, that, and she was almost done with the book. The dim lighting of the candle she was using made it just that much more relaxing as the only things to be heard was her turning the pages and the occasional grunts from her brother's training.

She turned around when she heard the bamboo, her brothers, and father fall to the ground. She closed her book and stood up, walking towards them. She clapped her hands, causing the lights to come on.

"You can almost set your watch by this guy." Mikey said from his position on the floor. Garnet was going to bypass the man to get to her brothers when she realized that he wasn't moving around too much. She and Leo walked over to him to help him sit up.

"Casey, what happened?" Leo asked.

"Where is Raphael?" Splinter asked. Casey flipped up his hockey mask before looking at Splinter.

"The invisible ninjas took him." Mikey and Donnie glanced at each other before looking back at Casey.

"Invisible ninjas, huh? This story wouldn't involve Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny would it?" He asked, a large smile on his face.

"I got proof." Casey said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small orange thing. Donnie took it out of his hands and walked quickly to his lab. The others followed the brainy turtle.

"Oh, some kind of optical device. Heavy duty hardware." Donnie said as he gazed at it under a large magnifying glass. Leo stood next to him with his Shell Cell to his ear.

"Raph's not answering his Shell Cell." Leo said as he closed it. Now Garnet was worried. Maybe Casey was telling the truth. Speaking of the man, he was kicking, throwing, and breaking most of the furniture. Garnet walked over to the man and grabbed his arm as he went to smash another chair.

"Relax Case, we got it. We'll have Raph home in no time." She said, giving him a small smile.

"It's all my fault." He said, dropping the chair and placing his head in his hands.

"Did you let him get captured without a fight?" She asked. The man shook his head. "Then it's not your fault. You fought to protect him and vice versa. Donnie will get a signal in no time that we can track and then we'll get Raphael back, safe and sound." She said smiling at the man. He smiled back before taking in a deep breath.

"You're right. Thanks Garnet." She nodded her head and walked back into the living room to grab her book. As she placed the bookmark into place, her mind drifted to Raph. If Casey's story was true, they must be strong and smart to take Raph. She walked to the bookshelf and placed the back into its place before taking in a deep breath and letting it back out slowly. She was worried and scared for him.

**XXX**

"I'm getting a signal…" Donnie said, causing Garnet to turn to him. "It's Raph!" He said excitedly. Casey cheered, breaking a light bulb above Don's head in the process. Mikey turned to Leo, Splinter, and Garnet.

"This guy's bad news even when there is good news." All three shook their heads.

"It's a faint signal but at least we have something to follow." Donnie said as he watched the screen. "Make that several signals."

"The invisible ninjas signal?" Leo asked as he got ready to go. Master Splinter placed a hand on Leo's arm.

"Raphael may not even be aware that he is being followed." Garnet nodded.

"Probably not." She tightened the holder for her Tessen on her legs before standing up straight.

"That means we need to find him before he brings in some seriously unwanted houseguests." Leo said determined. Everyone turned to look at Casey.

"We already got one of those." Mikey said.

"So, how do we stop something we can't see?" Casey asked.

"Very good question Casey, but I'm sure our residential genius turtle has already figured out a way." Garnet said as he smiled at the brainy turtle, he smiled.

"You got that right sis." He turned back to his desk. "Turtle vision heat sensing goggles." Don slipped a pair on before handing a pair to Casey and throwing a pair to Leo and Mikey. Garnet held her hand up as he was about to throw it to her.

"I don't need 'em Donnie." She said before she crouched down. Casey watched confused. The woman smirked; he'd never seen her transform. Slowly, the transformation took place. Cracking, popping, and ripping could be heard as he body became more and more animal like. When the transformation was done, she opened her eyes. The turtles and rat were cringing at the sounds but Casey just looked at her in amazement. Leo finally snapped out of his daze.

"Let's go." The others nodded before following the oldest turtle out of the lair.

**XXX**

"We're gonna have to split up." Leo said. "Mike and Casey, you cover above ground. Don, Garnet, and I will cover below." Leo and Don rode in the Sewer Slider while Garnet ran beside them. Leo glanced over, the only way he could see his sister was with the heat sensing goggles. She was smart enough to stay in the shadows and the fact that she was a black panther helped as well. Don stopped at the end of one of the tunnels.

"Just down there." Don said as he and Leo got out of the Slider.

"Be careful." Leo said as he turned to his sister. She nodded her head before following her older brothers down the tunnel, having to shrink her size down slightly. She looked down into the opening, Raph stood looking around. Garnet couldn't see anyone else in the sewer but she could smell them. She knew the invisible ninjas were there.

"I spy with my turtle eye, some goons that need a good bapping." Donnie said as they drew their weapons and jumped down. Garnet growled lowly before following.

"Hey!" Raph yelled excitedly before pausing when he noticed Garnet transformed. They began kicking the ninjas. Garnet stood beside Raph, watching her brothers.

"Uh guys… what are you…" Raph began to ask before he was interrupted by Donnie.

"Ever hear the ones about the invisible ninjas?" He asked playfully. Leo and Donnie were easily thrown over Raph and Garnet's heads, they watched as they landed and Casey appeared. He said something to the two downed turtles but Garnet didn't hear. She was too busy trying to snap her jaws on any of the invisible ninjas. She could smell them and sense them because as they moved, they would ruffle her fur with the small breeze. They left Garnet alone as they went for Raphael, who couldn't see or smell them.

"Come on! Show yourself you lousy…" Raph said as he tried to punch and kick at them, only to receive numerous punched to the head. He got a little woozy after that, stumbling from side to side. Garnet watched as her brothers ran over to Raph and how Casey was able to get some mud on the ninjas. They tried to whip it off before the turtles saw them.

"Ah, much better." Raph smirked before jumping and performing a split kick. Garnet lifted her head into the air, smelling how many ninjas were in the sewers. Her ears cocked to Donnie as he told Leo the invisibility controller on their chests. Leo sliced through two, showing the two high-tech ninjas. Donnie knocked him down into a standing pool of water, causing them to electrocute themselves.

"Can I call 'em or what?" Donnie asked as he, Leo, and Raph looked down at the fallen ninjas. Garnet turned quickly and champed her jaws down on one of the ninjas. Sparks flew before he became visible. She released him from her jaws; she looked up when she heard Casey yell. He was hanging from the latter, by what Garnet assumed was an invisible ninja.

"Drop your weapons and surrender." The ninja said as he appeared, his voice sending shivers down Garnet's spine. "My grip is loosening. I suggest you drop your weapons."

"Don't do it guys, I'm not worth it." Casey said.

"You know he's got a point." Donnie said as he turned to his brothers. Garnet snorted.

"You're starting to sound like Mikey." Leo said. The three dropped their weapons and two of the ninjas advanced upon the panther. She growled before Raph voice rang in her ears.

"Relax Garnet." The panther looked at him before allowing the ninjas to slip a rope around her neck and her muzzle. She shook her head to try and dislodge the ropes but they were pretty tight. "Hey, speaking of Mikey, where is he?" Raph looked around. Upon looking him, the youngest turtle was walking on a pipe feet above the ninja holding Casey's head.

Mikey jumped down, knocking the ninja and Casey off the catwalk. As hard as the young turtle tried, he couldn't reach him in time. Donnie bolted forward to grab his Bo-staff but a ninja stood in the way. Garnet jumped forward, the rope slipping from her muzzle, and wrapped her jaws around the ninja's arm. He turned his attention from Donnie to the woman. While the ninja was distracted Donnie grabbed his staff and held it out for Casey, who managed to grab it just in time.

Garnet quickly threw the ninja into a wall, knocking him out. Donnie swung his staff back and forth until the man could jump and reach the ledge. Once the man was on solid ground, it only took a matter of seconds for the man, four turtles, and panther to knock all of the ninjas into the water. Casey walked over to the edge and looked down. Garnet took the few minutes of peace to change back, she gritted her teeth through the whole transformation, she didn't understand why she kept transforming cause of how painful it was. Once it was over, she tried to stand but her knees buckled under her weight. She began to fall to the floor until a pair of arms wrapped around her, placing her back on her feet and hugging her to his body to help her stand.

"Thanks." She looked up at the turtle and saw it was Raphael. The turtle looked down and her and smiled, the woman smiled back. As crimson eyes looked into green, they began to lean closer to each other; Garnet laid one hand gently on his plastron. The pair jumped and turned to Casey as he walked back towards the group.

"Thanks guys, I owe ya." He smiled at the teens as he walked closer.

"We take cash, personal checks, and most major credit cards." Mikey said with a smirk before he clicked his tongue. Garnet rolled her eyes and chuckled slightly before laying her head on Raph's shoulders, suddenly exhausted from the transformation.

"Man, I'm beat." Casey said. "Maybe I should just crash at your place tonight." He said. Raph, Don, Mikey, and Garnet looked at him in surprise.

"**NO!**" Leo said as he slid into Casey's line of vision. "I mean, nothing beats the comfort of sleeping in your own bed." Donnie ran over beside Leo.

"We'll give you a ride; have you home in no time." He said, trying to convince the man to go home. Mikey was next to run over.

"Carry you up the stairs. Tuck you in. Heck, we'll even tell you a bedtime story." They pulled and pushed the man towards the entrance. Garnet smiled and tried to take a step but she was still weak. Raph grabbed her hips and pulled her back into him.

"Easy Gar, you know you're always weak after your transformation." He watched her worriedly. The woman smiled back at him.

"I'm fine Raphie." The large turtle rolled his eyes before kneeling slightly to wrap his arm around the back of her knees, hefting her into his arms. She squeaked as she wrapped her arms around his neck before glaring at him. He smiled back before following after his brothers. Garnet smiled and laid her head on his chest. She was just happy he was okay, even though she only spent a few hours away from the turtle; it hurt her to worry about him. As her breathing became shallow, Raph glanced down and smiled at the woman. He was happy to be back home with her.


	6. Fallen Angel

A/N: Please review and let me know what you think! The Shredder makes an appearance in the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**Fallen Angel**_

"_**I guess you can say I'm having a bad hair day. And a bad head day. And a bad neck day. And a bad shoulder day. And a bad pretty much everything down to my pinky toes day. That walking land mass down there, I have him to thank for my current full body make over. But somehow, I get the feeling it's about to get a whole lot worse." ~ Casey Jones**_

"Master Splinter, do you think we can go on a training run?" Garnet asked her father. The rat looked up from his stories to his daughter, who was waiting patiently for her father's answer. He seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding his head.

"As long as you promise to be careful." The woman smiled before bowing slightly at him.

"Thank you father." She said before standing up and running into the living room to tell her brothers.

"Hey guys! Master Splinter said it was alright to go on a run!" She said as she slid to a stop. The turtles turned to her and smiled before they began cheering.

"Yes! This is gonna be so awesome!" Mikey said as he jumped off the couch.

"Yeah, we get to go topside and bap a couple of thugs. It's gonna be a fun night." Raph said as he stood and stretched slightly. The woman nodded and watched as Leo and Don stood. The five teens walked to the lair entrance before going through the sewers and through a manhole cover. Raph sent a quick text to Casey telling they were topside and where to meet them.

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop made the trip easier and faster. They picked Casey up on the way and as they were checking things out, Garnet jumped over an alley and saw some Purple Dragons leaving a store. Garnet stopped her brothers before pointed down into the alley. The boys nodded before jumping down into the alley, followed by Casey and Garnet. Mikey planted a solid kick on the leader's chest, knocking back into the other dragons.

"See guys, you never know what you're gonna find on the old nightly training run." Garnet said with a smirk on her face as she watched the dragons struggle to stand.

"Now class, who can tell me what he did wrong?" Leo asked as he pointed the tip of his blade to the head dragon.

"You mean being a badly dressed, law-breakin', good for nothing, low-life, street thug?" Raph said. The man stood up.

"Bust 'em up dragons!" The dragons ran towards them. A swing of a hockey stick knocked one dragon down.

"When are these dragon goons gonna learn?" Leo asked as he threw a kick.

"Green beats purple every time!" Mikey said as he swung a nunchuck.

"They'll all be black and blue when I'm done with them." Raph turned his Sais between his fingers. Garnet twirled and placed a roundhouse kick to the jaw of one of the one woman dragon. The only ones left standing were the leader and a girl, no older than thirteen.

"We got a runner!" Donnie said as he watched the girl run further down the alley.

"I got it!" Garnet said as he flipped over one dragon to follow the girl down the alley. She saw the girl turn around and look at her before she ran into Casey.

"Going somewhere?" He asked. He glanced at Garnet as she slowed her run to a stop, panting for breath slightly. The girl looked up at him and it sounded like Casey mumbled, _'Angel'._ The girl stood and as soon as she did, a dragon came out of a small side alley at Casey. As he fended him off, Garnet took off after the girl. She came to the end of the alley, which was a chain-link fence. She tried to climb it but Garnet was quicker, grabbing a hold of her ankle.

"Let go of me!" The girl yelled and, to Garnet's surprise, kicked out at her. The woman hadn't seen it coming and took a heel to the nose. A sickening snap and blood were next. Garnet released the girl in favor of her broken nose.

"Damn!" The woman pinched her nose and watched as Casey grabbed the girl, almost receiving the same treatment, but he was able to duck in time.

"Angel wait!" Casey said, grabbing her foot on the second attempt at a kick. He pulled the mask off his head. "It's me, Casey." The girl calmed quickly before jumping off the fence.

"Casey?" She asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life." He said before glancing at Garnet, who watched the girl closely.

"What, the Purple Dragons?" She held up three fingers in a 'W'. "Nah, they're my posy. My family." She said.

"But you got real family at home." Casey almost sounded sad when he said it to Angel.

"Yeah, well who asked you loser?!" She yelled at the large man. "If I wanna be a Purple Dragon, it's my own business."

"Until you start breaking the law…" Casey pulled out his hockey stick, pointing to the bag of money on the ground. "Then it's my business." The girl kneeled down and grabbed the money, clutching it to her chest. Garnet finally removed her hand from her nose, the bleeding had almost stopped. Damn, that girl had a nice kick.

"Yeah well, I don't see no badge on you." She said, glancing over Casey and Garnet's forms as if looking for a sign that they were cops.

"And I don't see no dragon on you." Casey said back. "Not yet. So why don't you quit while you still have the chance…" Garnet watched Casey; she'd never seen him more serious since she's known him. It was a little scary.

"I ain't quitting nothing! Tonight was my first test. Tomorrow I pass my initiation and then I'm gonna wear my dragon with pride." The woman rolled her eyes, typical thirteen know it all.

"That dragon comes with a price." Angel began to walk away, Casey followed her. Garnet followed with her eyes and ears, there was no way she was getting within range of her feet again. "You don't know what you're getting yourself mixed up in."

"Yeah, maybe you're right!" She said as she swung the bag around, smacking Casey in the head and knocking him to the ground. Garnet tried to grab her but she swung the money, hitting her on the temple, giving her a headache and making her nose bleed more. "But I can still take care of myself!" Angel scaled the fence easily and jumped to the other side, running off. Casey sat up and watched her before turning to Garnet, who once again, was trying to stop her bleeding nose.

"Casey, what happened?" Raph asked as the turtle ran up to the pair. "Who was that girl?" Casey stood up.

"Her names Angel. I know her from the neighborhood. I promised her grandma I'd keep an eye on her. Keep her out of trouble." Casey looked down at the ground, almost ashamed that he hadn't done what he said he'd do.

"So she's a Purple Dragon?" Leo asked and Casey turned to them with a deadly look on his face.

"Not if I can help it." He said seriously. Garnet finally was able to get up; she removed her hand from her nose to check the bleeding.

"Whoa! What happened Garnet!?" Mikey asked when he saw his sister. With a glance in her brother's direction, she took off her tank top (she had a sports bra underneath) and began whipping the blood from her face, being very careful of her nose.

"Oh my!" Donnie said as he jogged over to her. She watched his hands as they gently moved over her face until his finger brushed against her nose. She hissed in pain and leaned back. Donnie nodded his head. "That is most defiantly broken. I'll have to fix it when we get back to the lair." Garnet nodded before whipping a little more blood from her face.

**XXX**

Garnet's nails dug into two different arms as she tried not to move away from her brainy brother. All of her family sat around her as they watched the turtle work. Donnie stopped touching her nose and her grip on Leo's and Raph's arms relaxed.

"How did it get broken?" Donnie asked. Garnet opened her eyes and blinked a few times to readjust them to the light.

"I grabbed Angel's foot and she kicked out at me. I wasn't prepared for that kinda reaction." Garnet said as she watched Donnie come closer. She shivered slightly. Raph moved her hand from his arm to place it in his hand. Garnet could feel her face heating up slightly before she felt Donnie's hand holding her face still, her grip increased on both of her brothers.

"Mikey, I need you to do me a favor." Donnie said as he released her face once again. The woman watched her brothers as they moved around the room.

"Sure bro, whatcha need?" Mikey asked as he came to stand next to this three sitting siblings. Donnie handed him a rag.

"I need you to kneel in front of Garnet and hold the rag under her nose when I fix it. I would tell her to do it but I have a feeling she does not gonna let go of Raph or Leo." Don said as he got some small pieces of bandages. Mikey kneeled in front of her and leaned on her legs, she could feel his plastron through her jeans.

"What exactly are you doing Donatello?" Splinter asked as he stepped closer. Donnie glanced at him before coming back to stand in front of Garnet.

"As much as I don't want to, I'm gonna have to re-align her nose and that requires me, pretty much, breaking it back the other way." Garnet's grip increased.

"Ow." Leo mumbled as he glanced down at his arm, Garnet's claws had broken the skin. Garnet glanced at her eldest brother.

"Sorry." She said. Leo smiled softly at her and placed a kiss on her temple. The pair had missed Raph's raised eye ridge as he watched them.

"It's alright." Splinter smiled as he watched his children support each other. Mikey shifted slightly against causing the woman to jump slightly.

"Sorry." Mikey mumbled as he looked up at her. She nodded slightly, knowing he would see it. She glanced at Don when he took in a deep breath.

"Alright Garnet, this is gonna hurt and I'm sorry but it needs to be done." He said as he stepped closer, gently placing his hands on either side of her head to move it the way he needed it. Mikey moved slightly to the side, allowing Don to step closer to their sister. "Here we go…" Donnie said before taking his thumb and pointer and placing them on her nose. She hissed and closed her eyes, tears coming to them. The boys could only imagine what kinda pain she was in, none knew how to help.

Donnie was about to let go of her nose when they watched Raph scoot closer to her, moving their interlaced hands and placing them on his lap. He leaned over and nuzzled her neck, churring loud enough for her to hear. The look of question was evident on the brother's and father's face. Raph and Garnet both could feel their faces heating up from the contact and the stares. The siblings and father watched as Garnet's ears twitched slightly before lying flat on her head before she tried to move a little closer to their hotheaded brother.

"I'm not gonna tell you when I do it." Donnie said softly before loosening his grip on her nose slightly. She tried not to move as she listened to Raph's churring, it relaxed and calmed her. As her ears and tail began to drop lower and lower, it showed Don that she was relaxing more and more. He glanced at Leo, who was watching the pair, and then at Mikey, who was doing the same. They'd never seen their brother so…caring.

He took in a quiet breath before quickly increasing the pressure and twisting her nose until a sickening crack was heard. Mikey stood immediately and pressed the rag to her nose as her head reeled back and she yelped. Leo and Raph grunted as Garnet's nail cut into their skin. Raph glanced at Mikey before placing his free hand over his brother's, letting the younger know to let go. Mikey's hand slipped away and he watched as Raph gently turned her head slightly towards him as he tucked it under his own as he began to chur louder. Slowly, her breathing became shallower as she fell asleep. Don sighed as he whipped the sweat from his forehead.

"Wow, that was intense." Mikey said as stood from the floor. Donnie nodded and watched as Raph pulled the rag away from her nose to check the bleeding, it had almost completely stopped.

"Oh good, the bleedings almost stopped." Donnie turned and grabbed some stuff to place on her nose to keep it in place while it healed. Raph gently picked the woman up before walking up to the stairs to put her in bed. Raph looked down at the woman; the blood had been cleaned off her face, her nose had been realigned, and she just looked peaceful. Raph gently opened her door and walked inside, laying her on the bed. He watched her for a moment before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

As he pulled away her thoughts became jumbled. _'What the hell is wrong with me?'_ He thought to himself, not realizing that about a week ago Garnet had thought those same exact words about him. He stood at his full height, looked down at the woman once again, before turning and walking out of the room. Closing it on his way out, he leaned against it with a sigh before he began walking back downstairs.

**XXX**

A crash caused Garnet to fly out of bed, ready to fight. With a quick glance around her room she realized it came from downstairs. She grabbed a hoodie from her closet and slipped it over her head as she ran down the stairs. When she reached the bottom she could hear Master Splinter.

"Donatello, your Battle Shell is a marvel of engineering. A true testament to your incredible mechanical skills. I never want to see it in our home again." Garnet came around the corner and saw quite a few things destroyed.

"What the hell happened here?" She asked. The others turned to her before looking at Donnie and Splinter.

"Apparently, Don was working a remote control system for the Battle Shell and Mikey pressed a button, causing it to drive around the lair and destroy anything in its path." Leo said as he came over to his little sister. "How is your nose feeling?" He asked. She smiled up at him.

"It feels a lot better, thanks. I'm sorry about your arm." She said as she looked down at his bandaged arms. He smiled and waved in an absentminded manner.

"It's alright." He said with a smile. They watched as Don got in the Battle Shell and drove it back to the entrance that lead to the garage. The other three turtles and the woman followed, leaving Master Splinter to meditate or watch his stories. The elevator went up and once it had stopped her drove the truck into the garage and parked it. As soon as the truck was off a voice drifted through the garage.

"Raphael. Raphael." The voice called twice. Raph looked at Garnet.

"It's Angel." She whispered. They nodded and opened the door to the garage; Garnet quickly jumped into the Battle Shell and flipped the lights on. Raph raised an eye ridge at her. She smiled. "For added affect." The turtle rolled his eyes.

"Alright kid, this had better be good." Raph said as he took a few steps forward so that the girl could see him.

**XXX**

"Okay, I knew Casey hung out with some weird dudes but you guys are off the charts." Angel said as she looked at the turtles, her eyes landing on Garnet, who was helping Raph put clothes on.

"No way am I going out like this." The hotheaded turtle said. "Tell me people don't really dress this way." He was pulling on the pants legs while looking between Garnet and Angel.

"It's a good look for you Raph." Mikey said as he crossed his legs. "Kinda a hip-hop, cat-bugler, Storm trooper thing." He laughed.

"Don't laugh green boy. You're next." Angel said while handing Mikey some clothes. Garnet chuckled from her seat.

"I'm already dressed." She said, crossing her arms with a smirk on her face. Raph's chuckle assaulted her ear before he grabbed on and pinched it between his fingers.

"Except for these." He said smugly. The woman rolled her eyes before taking her bandana off her neck and gently tying it over her ears.

"All done." It was Raph's turn to roll his eyes and shake it head. Garnet smiled at him before looking back at Mikey and Angel.

**XXX**

After parking the Battle Shell in a location that no one would find it, Leo and Don got dressed. Garnet bit her lip so that she didn't laugh at the sight of her brothers. They began walked towards the building; Angel stopped and turned to the older teens.

"Just be cool and follow my lead." She said before turning to walk again. As they walked by the guy keeping guard, they held up three fingers and Garnet let out another little chuckle then. It would have sucked for her brothers had it been more than three fingers. Garnet glanced around; they were surrounded by Purple Dragons and street thugs.

"Jeez, it's like we walked into an ugly convention." Mikey whispered to Raph.

"Hey, then you must feel right at home Mikey." Raph whispered back in a teasing voice. Mikey looked surprised.

"Knock it off guys; I'm trying to blend here." Donnie said as he looked over his glasses at his brothers before looking around and crossing his arms over his chest. Mikey and Raph looked at him before doing the same.

"Oh my goodness…" Garnet said as she shook her head gently.

"You really wanna look like a Purple Dragon?" Raph asked. "Try getting your butt kicked by a ninja turtle."

"I'm down with that." Mikey said as they fist bumped. For a moment, they watched the two guys fighting in the ring before Leo came into their line of vision.

"Alright guys, take note. We got exits there and there." He pointed in the directions. "Guards posted around the perimeter. Everyone is pretty heavily armed so can we try to avoid a fight?" The teens looked at each other before looking back at Leo. "Yeah, right. What was I thinking?" Turning back to the arena they watched a cage come down. The big blonde, Hun, was talking about something but Garnet was too distracted when she saw Casey being lowered down.

"Those lousy thugs, I got your most hated enemy right here." Raph said as he pulled his Sais out of his hoodie pocket. Leo pushed his hands back down.

"Easy Raph, let's not blow our cover just yet." The emerald turtle went silent. Apparently, it was a cage match to see who got to beat up Casey. He was pulled up out of reach again.

"How are we gonna get him down from there?" Don asked. Angel turned to the purple banded turtle.

"I know how to get to the catwalk." Garnet nodded. Leo pointed to Mikey, Don, and Garnet.

"Go with her, nothing fancy. Just stick to the shadows and cut him loose." He said.

"And what are you two gonna do?" Mikey asked. Leo turned to the arena.

"We'll make sure that spotlight stays on the cage. Now go." Angel turned and began to lead the way. Garnet stopped when she felt a hand on her wrist, it was Raph's.

"Be careful." He said. She smiled at him and winked.

"You know it." She turned and jogged after the girl and her brothers. It took absolutely no time to get onto the catwalk. As they walked, Garnet reached into her hoodie pockets and pulled out her Tessen.

"Those are cool." Angel whispered to her. The woman smiled at her.

"Thanks." Crimson eyes scanned the catwalk for anything unusual.

"I'm sorry about your nose." Angel whispered again. Garnet turned to her and wrinkled her nose slightly (some pain was involved in the process), realizing that Angel was talking about her breaking it earlier. She shrugged and waved her hand in an absentminded manner.

"It's okay. Donnie got it fixed." Angel nodded and glanced at the woman once more before turning forward. Once the teens were close enough, they kneeled down.

"We just have to take out those goons without drawing too much attention." Donnie said.

"Any bright ideas?" Mikey asked. Don glanced around before smiling.

"Yeah, I real bright idea." He said as he pointed to one of the spotlights that wasn't being used. Angel walked over to the light and leaned against it. She said something to catch the guy's attention.

"Lights on." She said before flipping the light on in their eyes, making them easy targets for Mikey and Don. Once they were out, Garnet flipped the spotlight off. The four began walking over to Casey.

"Angel, thanks for dropping by and you brought company." None of them could see his expression because of his hockey mask.

"Hey, what are friends for?" Donnie asked as he pulled the lever to pull Casey closer to the catwalk. Donnie used his Bo-staff to flip a lever to release Casey's wrist and ankles, once that was done Angel and Mikey helped him down so he could sit on the catwalk. Mikey pulled off the mask before reaching into his jacket.

"Here, I brought you a present." He pulled out a baseball bat and handed it to Casey. The man smiled and Garnet thought she may have seen a tear run down his face. Garnet glanced down when everything went quiet and her eyes widened, Raph had been pulled out of his clothes… you could easily tell he was a turtle.

"Covers blown guys." Garnet said as she turned back to her brothers. They nodded and quickly began to remove their clothes. Garnet pulled her Tessen out of her pocket, once again, before she slipped the hoodie over her head.

"Let's go!" Donnie said before he and Mikey jumped over the side. Garnet took in a deep breath and followed. They landed in front of the Purple Dragons that were running towards the cage.

"Sorry dudes, fan appreciation day is next week." Mikey said. It was easy for the three younger teens to take out the Dragons. For a moment, they watched Raph and Leo fight Hun until he over powered them.

"Looks like our bros could use a hand." Donnie said before he, Mikey, and Garnet jumped into the cage, kicking Hun down. He flew back from the force and that force alone bent the metal bars.

"Don't look now, but Tiny still wants to dance." Mikey said as Hun stood. Garnet watched as the man began to pull the bars from the ground, causing them to collapse on top of himself and the teens. Donnie had managed to grab her at the last second and cover her with his body to use his shell to protect him.

As they tried to push the debris from their bodies, Hun walked up behind Leo and took the katanas from his back. He lifted them above his head, ready to bring them down to end their lives when he felt a tap on his back. He turned to look back and there stood Casey and Angel. No words were exchanged; Casey simply pulled back and hit a 'pop fly.' As Casey walked closer, Raph gave him thumbs up. Now that Hun was down, the rest of the Purple Dragons began to advance upon them.

"Get us out of here Donnie." Leo said. Don reached into the back of his belt and grabbed the remote.

"I have just what the doctor ordered." He held the remote in his palm and pressed the pretty little red button. Mikey walked to the edge of the arena and waved his arm.

"Oh taxi!" Suddenly, the Battle Shell came driving through the doors before coming to a stop beside the teens.

"Bout time that thing busted up somebody else's place for once." Raph said. Garnet couldn't help but nod. The siblings got into the Battle Shell and drove around to pick Angel and Casey up.

"So where are we heading?" Don asked from behind the wheel.

"Angel's place." Casey said from the back, giving Donnie the address from memory. Garnet sighed and sat down only to jump when a hand was placed on her shoulder. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Garnet turned her head to look at Casey.

"Yeah, I guess." She asked before standing up and walking towards the back of the Battle Shell. "What's up?" She asked. Casey ran his fingers through his hair before glancing at Angel.

"I know you just met Angel and everything but I would really like it if you could find a way into her life." He said. Garnet raised an eyebrow. "What I mean is… if some way you could be the positive female role model in her life. She only lives with her grandmother and because of this… I feel like she should have someone else."

"I understand." Garnet said with a nod of the head. She glanced at Angel as the girl walked to her brothers. "I know what that's like."

"Thanks." Casey said with a smile. Garnet smiled back.

**XXX**

Garnet fixed the bandana over her ears as she walked across the street with Casey and Angel. Upon reaching the door, Casey knocked and an older woman answered.

"Yes? Angel?" She looked happy.

"Grandma!" Angel exclaimed as she reached up and hugged her grandma. Casey and Garnet stood back watching.

"Told you I'd keep an eye on her." Casey said with a smile. The woman came forward and hugged Casey as well.

"Thank you Casey. Thank you for bringing back my Angel." Garnet smiled before the woman turned to her. "And who is this?" She asked. Angel walked over and nudged me with her elbow.

"Grandma, this is my new friend Garnet. She helped me out while I was gone." She said with a smile on her face. Her grandmother smiled at Garnet before pulling her into a hug.

"Then thank you as well Garnet. It's nice to know I have so many people looking after my granddaughter." Garnet smiled back at the woman.

"You're very welcome." The woman pulled away from Garnet to grab a hold of her's and Casey's arms.

"Now, I have pie fresh out the oven and I insist you come inside and join us." She said as she pulled the two inside. Casey turned to the turtles and gave them thumbs up while Garnet gave them the shooing motion to go home. Garnet smiled, she was going to get to see how another family interacted other than her crazy mutated family. This would be an interesting night.


	7. The Shredder Strikes Part 1

A/N: The Shredder makes his grand entrance and Raph's acting a little funny around Garnet! Please review to let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**The Shredder Strikes: Part 1**_

"_**In our ninja training Master Splinter is constantly telling us that when given two choices, always choose the hardest path. But somehow, when you are a teenage mutant ninja, the harder path always seems to choose you." ~ Garnet**_

Training as usual. Raph against Leo (oh surprise) and Garnet against Donnie. Mikey was standing aside, waiting for an opening to just jump in.

"You know what I love about weapons practice?" Raph asked before answering his own rhetorical question. "The weapons." Mikey saw this as his opportunity to jump in. He swung his nunchuck and it wrapped around the blade of Raph's sai. With some effort, he was able to pick Raph up off the ground and throw him.

"Too bad you're stuck with those toothpicks and not a real weapon like the nunchucks." Mikey said as he spun his nunchucks around his body. Donnie jumped forward and, using his staff, pulled Mikey's feet out from under him.

"Sorry Mikey, but the Bo-staff is where it's at." Don said as he spun his staff.

"Boys!" Leo called as he pulled the blades out of their sheaths. "Put away the toys!" He jumped into the air. "Double katana is the only way to play!" He easily knocked the three boys away, not even noticing that as soon as Mikey had made the comment about Raph's sais, Garnet had walked over to the side and sat down. "What'd I tell ya? Double Katana? Pretty sweet, huh?" Crimson eyes rolled along with her brother's groans.

"Nice one Leo." Donnie said from his position on the ground.

"Lucky." Raph said.

"Not so lucky for my tail, it just got kicked." Mikey said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Boys and their toys." Garnet mumbled as she looked over her Tessen.

"Well thought Leonardo." Master Splinter said as he walked over to the boys. Garnet slid from where she was sitting, putting her Tessen back in their holders on her legs, before going to stand next to Raph.

"Thank you sensei." Leo said as he bowed.

"You have won, but do you know why?" Master Splinter asked the eldest sibling.

"Uh, well… I have the superior weapon." Leo said as he held up the katanas. "I read where Sword Master Mosashi said the katana blade holds the Soul of Steel and is the truest guide to the warriors way. Which is kinda how I feel." Leo had a smile on his face. Garnet and Raph glanced at each other before rolling their eyes.

"Things are said but few are true." Master Splinter said as he stood up straight. Leo looked surprised.

"Master Splinter's got that look." Raph said to his younger siblings.

"I think somebodies gonna get it." Donnie said. Mikey and Garnet laughed to themselves.

"Michelangelo! Garnet!" Master Splinter called them. The youngest teens looked up at their father quickly. "Do you think I am funny?" He asked in a serious voice, his walking cane pointed towards them.

"Um, yeah. I mean sometimes…" Mikey said before he tried to open his mouth to continue. Garnet threw her hand over his mouth.

"No Master Splinter." Donnie face palmed as he watched his younger siblings. Much to the dismay of the woman, Mikey kept talking through her hand. Donnie stopped that with an elbow to the ribs. Garnet removed her hand; the orange banded turtle glanced at her before turning back to Splinter.

"I mean, no Master Splinter." The rat sighed before walking over to Leo. He set his cane aside before placing his hands behind his back. "Attack me with your katana." The four other siblings began taking some steps back.

"Master Splinter, I –"

"Do it! Now!" Splinter said, cutting Leo off. With no more hesitation Leo attacked his father. Splinter caught Leo's blade between his hands. All of the teens looked surprised. "Is this the great and glorious weapon of which you speak? Helpless before an old rat such as myself." He released it. "Again, with both." There was no hesitation on Leo's part as he lifted both blades and brought them down on Splinter. The rat dodged, grabbing his walking stick and blocking all of the moves. He even knocked the blades from Leo's hand and pressed the end of his stuck to the elder turtle's chin.

"In the hands of a true Ninjitsu master, anything can be a deadly weapon." Splinter said. The other three turtles laughed slightly as Garnet watched the exchange with curious eyes. "Remember, a weapon is only as good as the arm that wields it Leonardo." Splinter threw his cane, skewering it through Raph's punching bag. Garnet's ears laid flat. "Until you have learned this lesson, you have learned nothing."

**XXX**

"Don't you think Master Splinter was a little hard on Leo?" Garnet asked as she stirred her hot chocolate. She glanced up at her brothers; they looked at her before Raph shrugged.

"I think he got what was coming to him. He's been gloating for a while now." The hotheaded turtle said. Garnet rolled her eyes and took a sip of the hot drink. Of course Raph would feel that way.

"You know, I agree with Raph. Leo's been a pain lately and this kinda put him in his place." Mikey said as he leaned back in his chair. Garnet sighed before glancing at Donnie who had just sat down from making his coffee. The brainy turtle shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know what to think. It did seem a little harsh now that I think back to it." Garnet nodded, it may not have been the exact answer she was looking for but at least someone felt similar.

"Why do you care anyway?" Raph asked. "You and Leo have never been BFFs, even as kids." He took a sip of his coffee before watching the woman. She pinned her ears to her head.

"Well excuse me for caring about my older brother." Garnet left her half-full mug on the table before standing and walking to the entrance of the lair. Right as she walked out, she could hear her three brothers follow her. She smiled; they always follow the baby of the family.

**XXX**

They'd found Leo on the roof of a building right before he received a message via 'air mail' as Mikey called it. Garnet rolled her eyes before watching Leo take off. She turned to her brothers.

"We follow, stay hidden and quiet." She said, pressing a finger to her lips. Raph gazed at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"You're like a little fearless." He said before pushing her forward to follow Leo. They followed silently, letting Leo lead the way. To be extremely quiet, the woman had to remove her boots. She shivered, the ground was cold! But she followed Leo anyway, Raph, Don, and Mikey behind her.

Upon reaching a door, he glanced around before going inside. Once the door was closed and they were sure he wasn't coming out they jumped down.

"Man, Leo's been acting funny all day. I don't mean ha-ha funny, I mean _funny_ funny." Mikey said as he opened the door. Garnet shook her head and peeked in.

"Well, if you'd just been told by your father and Sensei that you learned nothing… wouldn't you?" She asked as her eyes bounced around the room, looking for the blue banded turtle. Don nodded slightly.

"But still, it's not like Leo to go off like this." The Purple banded turtle said. Raph nodded.

"Yeah, he's acting like me." Garnet glanced at the turtle out of the corner of her eyes.

"Scary." She said before taking a step back.

"Yeah, that's just what we need, another you." Mikey said as he looked at Raph. "Now, another me would be a different story. That would be a good thing." While they talked, Garnet stood with Donnie.

"We just need to get up there." Garnet said as she pointed towards the window. Don looked up and tilted his head before nodding.

"Gotcha." He bent his knees slightly before placing his fingers together, offering them to his sister. She nodded before stepping into them, bracing herself as he threw her into the air. She landed on the walkway cover. Donnie jumped up and gripped it with his hands before he looked back at his brothers.

"Are you guys coming?" He asked before pulling himself up. Mikey and Raph followed the two. They walked quickly and quietly until they found a window to look down in the room. They watched as Leo entered the large room only to soon be surrounded by some Foot ninjas.

"Thirteen to one." Don said as he pulled his Bo-staff from its holder.

"That seems a little unfair. I mean, there is only thirteen of them." Mikey said with a smile on his face. Raph held up his hand.

"If Leo needs us we're here. Let's see what this is about." Garnet nodded before kneeling beside the emerald turtle. Leo quickly took out the ninjas before he was approached by a man. Because the four teens were on the other side of the glass and on the roof of the building, there was no way they would be able to hear anything. The boys leaned on the glass; Garnet was a little more careful and just kept looking into the room from the side.

"What's he saying?" Donnie asked.

"Something about onions." Mikey said. Garnet looked at her brother before looking back down. "Or maybe pepperoni and sausage in a deep dish crust." Garnet rolled her eyes, Mikey wanted pizza. When was that anything new? Raph reached over and popped in him the back of the head. "What it's hard to hear… and I'm hungry." Once Mikey had quieted, they watched the rest of the interaction before Leo left with a katana.

**XXX**

"This is beautiful." Leo said as he stopped and looked down at the blade in his hands.

"Oh Leonardo!" Mikey said, using the worst Hispanic accent the woman had ever heard. He jumped down, followed by Donnie, Raph and Garnet. "You got some explaining to do." He said, wagging his finger at his older brother. 'I Love Lucy' was what the woman thought of when he said it.

"Nice letter opener. Is that the price for selling out these days?" Raph asked as he stepped towards the eldest turtle.

"It's not what you think! I was invited to –" Leo tried to explain but Raph wouldn't let him.

"To join up them?" Raph asked.

"No!" He shook his head. "Well, yes." He nodded his head. "But it's not like we think. They're not the enemy, at least… I don't think they are. Everything Master Saki –"

"Master Saki?!" Garnet asked in a loud voice. The elder turtle cringed at the sound of his sister's voice. "What the hell's up with that?" She asked, taking a few steps closer to her brother.

"I thought we already had a Master… Master Splinter." Don said with his hands on his hips.

"Remember him Leo? Big, hairy guy. About this tall." Mikey held his hand up to his chest to represent Splinter's height. "I don't think we can just ditch him." Leo turned away from his siblings.

"I'm not talking about ditching anyone. I'm only talking about working with another group of ninjas in a fight against evil." He turned back to them. "Mikey, you're always going on about how we should do some good, serve a greater purpose. Well, here's a greater purpose." Leo held the swords out to his siblings.

"I don't know Leo." Mikey said reluctantly.

"What's this thing got, some kind of mind control device in it. You're losing it Leo." Raph snatched the sword out of his hands. Leo grabbed a hold of Raph's shell.

"Hey! Give that back Raph!" The emerald turtle shifted until he was able to swing an arm around to punch Leo in the chest.

"You can just get one of your new pals to give you a new one." He said. Leo lunged at Raph, knocking him over as they fought for the sword.

"Jeez, a fight between Leo and Raph." Mikey said as he watched them roll on the ground.

"I didn't see that one coming." Don said as he placed a hand to his forehead. Garnet watched as Leo flipped Raph over the edge. As soon as Leo was on his feet, he dropped the katana and turned to the edge.

"Raph! No!" Don, Mikey, and Garnet ran to the edge to see Raph holding on to one of his Sais that was driven into the wall. Garnet smiled when she heard him laugh.

"And you thought katanas were the best ninja weapons." Leo and Mikey leaned down to help the turtle back up. Once he was on solid ground Leo spoke.

"I'm such an idiot. You could have been really hurt." Raph smiled at him.

"Yeah, you really are an idiot. I don't hurt that easy sword boy." Raph playfully pushed Leo. Don walked over and picked up the katana.

"So what are we going to do Leo?" He asked the blue banded turtle.

"What I should have done in the first place." He said, a serious look on his face. "Talk to Master Splinter." They nodded. Don and Mikey began to lead the way, Garnet walked beside Raph while glancing back at Leo. She placed her hand on the emerald turtle's arm.

"I'm gonna talk to Leo." The turtle turned to her, his brown eyes connecting with her crimson before he nodded. The woman slowed her steps before she was walking in time with Leo. "Hey bro." The eldest turtle glanced down at her before looking at the sword in his hands.

"Hey." His voice sounded… conflicted. She sighed.

"Look, we're not mad at you. If anything, I understand why you wanted to believe him." Leo's dark blue eyes landed on her.

"Why?" He asked, wanting to know if his sister truly understood what he was feeling. She smiled at him.

"You're the oldest. You want to protect us. You wanted to believe that the man was good so that it would take a little worry off your mind." The turtle's eyes widen as he looked down at his sister. She smiled and nudged him with her shoulder. "It's cool Leo. Just talk to Master Splinter and we'll go from there." The elder turtle nodded before wrapping an arm around Garnet in a hug.

"Thanks baby sister." He whispered to her. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him.

"You're welcome big brother." While they were hugging, they didn't notice that Raph was glaring at the pair, the jealousy eminent in his brown eyes.

**XXX**

Back at the lair, they were all sitting in front of Master Splinter. Garnet glanced at Raph, for some reason, the red banded turtle refused to sit next to her. Instead, he sat beside Donnie while she sat beside Mikey… all the way across the line from each other.

"My children, I hoped this day would never come." Splinter said as he looked at them. "I know who these people are, I have always known." In his hand, he held a piece of cloth with a red symbol on it. "This is the symbol for the Foot Ninjas and their leader is Oroku Saki but he has another name, The Shredder. I have often told you of my beloved Master Yoshi. Now it is time that I tell you the whole truth." Master Splinter explained to the teens of how his master was killed and how the Shredder was involved.

"Man, I am such an idiot." Leo said as he hit his fist against his leg.

"I coulda told you that." Mikey said as he nudged Leo's arm with his, causing him to smile.

"You've been played bro, he saw you coming a mile away." Don said as he pointed to Leo.

"So what are we gonna do about it?" Raph asked.

"Shredder wants an answer, I think we should give him one. Turtle style." Leo said before the teens bowed to Master Splinter, who bowed back.

**XXX**

After coming back to the surface, Garnet definitely could see that Raph was acting strange around her. He tried to keep as much distance as he could between himself and the woman, he never looked her in the eyes, hell, he didn't even talk to her since she hugged Leo. Wait… was Raph (possibly, maybe) jealous? Her eyes strayed to the red banded turtle. That could explain why he was acting the way he was. Once they landed on the Shredder's building, they stopped and waited.

It didn't take long for the ninjas to show up. Each turtle drew their weapons, except for Leo, who held the katana Oroku Saki gave him. The eldest turtle stepped towards them.

"Tell your boss the answer is no and he can have his sword back." Leo threw the sword before drawing his own katanas. Garnet pulled her Tessen from their holders and snapped them open, drawing the small dagger-like blades from inside.

"Let's dance." The fight was on. Weapons were drawn. Foot ninjas were flying and the mutants were kicking ass. Within fifteen minutes, all the ninjas were down and out. The siblings replaced their weapons.

"Well, all in a day's work." Donnie said as he looked at his siblings.

"Turtles rule!" The boys yelled. Garnet smiled and shook her head slightly before her eyes strayed to the red banded turtle. He always checks on her after a fight. Garnet sighed and smiled at Mikey when he talked to her. While talking to the youngest turtle she missed the glance Raph threw her way. Suddenly, Hun came smashing through the only door on the roof.

"Not him again." Don said as he watched the man.

"We beat him before, we can do it again." Garnet said as she glared at the man.

"I've been looking forward to this rematch." Hun said as he cracked his knuckles. The woman and turtles drew their weapons.

"Bring it, if you've got the guts." Leo said before both sides charged at each other. Hun punched Don first, knocking him back into a wall. Raph received a kick to the chest and Leo received a back fist. The large man then picked Mikey up and threw him at Don, who wasn't expecting it. Garnet jumped at him, only to receive a fist to the back of the head. She hit the concrete hard enough she lost consciousness for a moment. When she opened her eyes, she saw Raph being thrown around by his arm.

Leo and Garnet ran towards Hun, kicking him in the chest at the same time, knocking the large man back. Hun glanced around before his eyes landed on the katana Leo had gotten from the Shredder. Once it was in his grip, he unsheathed it and ran to Leo. The pair began to fight, for a while; Leo looked like he had the upper hand… until Hun knocked both of his katanas from his hands, leaving the eldest turtle defenseless.

"No Leo!" Raph yelled as he and the younger siblings sat on the sidelines watching. There was nothing they could do to get over there in time or defend against a katana blade.

"Get back!" Don yelled.

"Look out!" Mikey yelled right after.

"Leo!" Garnet could feel the tears in her eyes; there was no way she could lose her older brother. The next second made it seem pointless that they were ever worried about Leo. He ran towards Hun, jumping into the air and kicking him repeatedly in the chest until he fell through the glass into the room below. It had begun to rain by this point, but that didn't stop the younger siblings from running over to Leo.

"I think we'll sleep well tonight." Mikey said as he and Don each grabbed one of Leo's arms and put them around their shoulders to support his weight.

"That was not easy." Don said. Garnet turned to Raph, who was standing next to her.

"Raph…" She began, only to have the turtle turn away from her and grab Leo's fallen katanas. He walked over to Leo, holding the blades out to him.

"Here bro." Leo released Don and Mikey to step over to Raph.

"Thanks Raph." He re-sheathed them behind his back. Garnet wrapped her arms around her, she was wet, cold, and for some reason, was feeling like she didn't belong. She hadn't felt like this since she'd first met the turtles. "Come on guys, let's go home." Leo said to the younger teens before he turned around. "Ah shell!" Garnet then noticed the large amount of Foot ninjas coming towards them. Once again, the teens drew their weapons but this time… the ninjas moved so that something bigger could land on the roof. A large man dressed in metal armor.

"Those who are not with me are against me!" He yelled, his voice very rough, almost mechanical to Garnet's ears. "And I crush anyone who stands against me!" Garnet's ears laid flat, she didn't like the sound of that and from the looks on her brother's faces… neither did they.


	8. The Shredder Strikes Part 2

A/N: Here is the second part! Some RaphieXGarnet fluff! Please review and let me know what you guys think, it would mean a lot to me! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Garnet!

_**The Shredder Strikes: Part 2**_

"_**Well, it took me a while but I managed to see Oroku Saki for who he really is, the Shredder. Of course, to get to this point we had to fight a bunch of Foot ninjas; which wasn't easy. Then we had to go up against Hun again. Definitely not easy. But the real nightmare is about to begin. Now we have to face the Shredder and something tells me that this is really not gonna be easy." ~ Leonardo**_

Everyone was still. The siblings stood to one side of the building and the Shredder and his Foot ninjas on the other. The rain was pouring, the lightning was striking, and thunder was booming. It was just an all-around bad night but it did suit the situation. Garnet glanced at her brothers, they were tense and ready while the Shredder and his ninjas looked at ease.

"The time for games has ended. No more charades." The Shredder said in his deep, scratchy voice before he removed his helmet. "You see me as I am and it will be the last thing you ever see." He said as he eyes strayed over the mutants. His voice was still deep but much less scratchy that it was when he wore his helmet. He smirked at them before replacing his helmet. "Prepare to face your destiny and your doom."

"Well, uh, he's your friend Leo." Donnie said as he looked at Leo.

"And he certainly has a strong sense of personal style." Mikey said, causing Raph and Garnet to look at him. "I mean, nice outfit."

"Yeah but something tells me he didn't get all dressed up for nothing." Raph said as he turned his attention back to the Shredder.

"Just be on your toes, we have no idea what kinda tricks he may be able to pull out." Garnet said as she slid down into a slightly wider stance.

"Guys, we're in for the fight of our lives." Leo said before glancing back at Garnet. "You should transform." The woman raised an eyebrow at him.

"And why is that?" She asked as she began to replace her Tessen in their holders.

"Because you are less likely to get hurt like that." Leo said. Garnet glared at him slightly. Did he think she couldn't handle herself in her normal form? Before the woman could even think about changing the Shredder's voice caught her attention.

"Foot ninja, attack! Destroy them!" The Foot ninjas ran towards the teens. Garnet pulled her Tessen back out of their holders and got ready. The teens ran to meet the ninjas in the middle. Leo, Garnet, Raph, and Donnie took out their ninjas easily. To the woman, it was no different than fighting them every other time they had.

Suddenly, the Shredder jumped and kicked Mikey. The turtle slid back until he hit the edge of the building. The Shredder then turned his gaze to Leo, who was distracted by the ninjas he was fighting. The Shredder was faster than Garnet thought he would be, he was able to get to Leo quickly and kick him squarely in the chest. The eldest turtle flew back but quickly regained his balance. Don was next on the list. As he was fighting his own ninjas, he was not prepared for the Shredder to appear behind him and grab his staff, easily throwing the turtle aside.

He hit his shell on the concrete hard; when he looked up he saw one on the Foot ninjas bringing down their katana over his head. He gasped in surprise and closed his eyes, only to open them when he heard the sound of metal hitting metal. Upon opening them, he saw Garnet kneeled next to him, the blades on her Tessen holding back the ninja's katana. With a smile to his younger sister, he rolled out from underneath the blade.

"Watch your back brainiac!" She smirked at the turtle, before throwing a roundhouse kick and knocking the ninjas away.

"But Gar, isn't that what you're for?" He asked her with a smile. She chuckled and shook her head. The woman glanced at Raph, who had caught one of the ninja's katanas in his sai and managed to throw it at an air conditioning system. It sparked a little before bursting into flames. Somehow, even with the rain, the flames managed to spread across the whole roof. Garnet, Don, and Mikey were holding off the ninjas while Raph and Leo took on the Shredder. Both sides charged but it didn't seem like a fair match up as the large man kicked both turtles aside easily.

**XXX**

Even with her ninja training, there is only so much you can do physically before you become exhausted and Garnet was at that point. She was standing behind Donnie as he tried to hold off two ninjas. Suddenly, an orange blur flew by and knocked them both aside. Upon closer inspection by the two, they saw it was Mikey. They ran over to him, the orange banded turtle looked up at them and smiled slightly.

"Nice landing Mikey." Don said as he held out his hand to his brother. The youngest turtle accepted the hand.

"They don't call me Air Mikey for nothing." Garnet rolled her eyes and patted him on shell. As hard as the older turtles tried, they couldn't seem to actually hit the Shredder in any way. He'd knocked Leo back hard enough to crush the edge of the building under his shell; the force of the hit caused him to lose his katanas. As soon as the blue banded turtle stood, he was grabbed by six ninjas as the Shredder made his way over to him. Shredder gave an evil chuckle.

"I will finish you first." He said. Garnet pulled together her last bit of strength and ran over, ramming her shoulder into his ribs, surprisingly knocking the Shredder to the ground.

"Leave him alone!" She said as he eyes changed from crimson to amber, symbolizing her transformation but before she could attempt it, a strong hand wrapped around her neck, cutting off the circulation as he stood. The woman began to gasp for breath.

"Garnet!" She heard Leo and Raph yell over the ringing that had become apparent in her ears. She began to claw at the man's arm but with the metal on it, it did little good. The man chuckled at her.

"So pathetic." He said. The woman gave him her best glare before he began to squeeze her neck tighter, causing her to cough.

"Let her go Shredder." Leo said, still being held back by the six ninjas. Before anyone could reply, a rumbling was heard, the concrete beneath their feet was crumbling. Quickly, the building began to fall apart. Shredder threw Garnet across the building, making her fall hard on the weakening concrete. She landed coughing and out of breath. She felt someone pick her up and jump off the building, at first; she thought it was one of the Foot but the plastron touching her arm told her it was one of her brothers. They landed hard in a dumpster, causing them both to grunt from the impact before the top of it slammed closed, leaving the two in darkness.

**XXX**

Garnet sat in the dumpster with her eyes closed, trying to get her head to stop pounding. She heard the top of the dumpster open, some light bounced off her closed eyelids. She opened them slowly, taking in the emerald skin and red mask. Raphael had saved her. She jumped slightly when he spoke in that deep Brooklyn accent.

"Man, if those Foot goons don't finish me off the stink of this dumpster will. Jeez." He opened the top wider and jumped out before holding it open for Garnet, she climbed out and as soon as her feet were on the ground her knees buckled. She fell to the ground, catching herself at the last minute. Raph closed the lid to the dumpster and looked down at her. "Come on, we gotta go find the others." He said as he began walking away.

"Fine." She answered before she was able to stand and followed the red banded turtle. Now, she knew something was off, she and Raph had always been close and he always helped her. For her to be sitting on the ground, unable to stand and him not help her… something was going on in that head of his and she was going to find out what.

**XXX**

After about a half an hour of walking Garnet stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. She was getting answers… now.

"Raphael Hamato, what the hell is wrong with you?" He turned to look at the woman, surprised.

"What are you talking about Garnet? There's nothing wrong, let's keep moving." He tried to walk away but stopped when she grabbed his arm and turned him to face her.

"Don't give me that crap! You've been acting weird ever since Leo and I hugged." She noticed something flash in Raph's eyes before it was gone. He growled slightly and shrugged her hand off.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it. Come on, those Foot goons are still looking for us." He took a few steps away. Garnet snorted and stomped her foot.

"I will not go another step until you talk to me about this. I don't understand why you are jealous." Garnet glared at the hot head as he turned to look at her.

"Me? Jealous? Of Fearless? You got it all wrong Gar…" He said as he took a step closer.

"Really Raph?" She asked. "Then explain to me why you didn't sit next to me in Master Splinter's lecture like you normally do. Explain to me why you've been avoiding me. Explain to me why you haven't spoken to me all night except when you were being rude and uncaring." She placed her hands on her hips and pinned him with a glare, tears glistening in her eyes. The red banded turtle stared at her for a moment before closing his own eyes.

"Garnet… I never wanted to hurt you."

"Then why did you?"

"I just… seeing you with Leo. I don't know. It just got to me in ways I don't understand. I got so angry and I… I don't know how to talk about my feelings; you of all people should know that better than anyone." He crossed his own arms over his chest and looked down at her.

"That's no excuse." She said as she let her arms fall to her sides. "Why the hell would you be pissed? He's our brother…" Raph sighed and dropped his own arms.

"You really wanna know why?" He asked the woman, who nodded her head. Another sigh. "I guess it's cause I like you. Not like a sister but… something else, I guess." He said, closing his eyes to keep from seeing the (what he thought) horrified look on his sister's face. His eyes snapped open when he heard her sigh and chuckle slightly.

"Good, I thought it was something I did." Raph blinked at her surprised.

"Did you hear what I just said?" He asked, a slightly nervous tone in his voice.

"Of course and you can't be pissed at someone if they…" She paused, looking down at the ground before looking up at the turtle through her lashes. "Feel the same way." Raph was, for a lack of better words, shell-shocked. This is the girl he'd had a crush on since they were children and here she is, admitting to having the same feelings as him.

"Well…" He rubbed the back of his head. "That took care of that misunderstanding." He smiled down at her. She smiled back.

"Yeah, sooo… we're cool?" She asked, cursing herself for sounding like Mikey. Raph caught on and chuckled.

"Yeah, we're cool." He reached over and wrapped his arms around her to pull her to his chest in a hug. The woman smiled before wrapping her arms around him, it felt good to touch him again. Suddenly, a noise broke them apart. He grabbed her wrist before pulling her into the shadows. Two Foot ninjas walked down the alley and stopped in front of the two. Both teens held their breath, hoping they weren't spotted.

"Something around here really stinks." One said to the other. Garnet sniffed the air and realized it was them. She wrinkled her nose.

"Don't look at me." The other said. Raph stepped forward, grabbing the back of their heads before slamming them together and knocking them unconscious. He glanced back at Garnet.

"We don't smell that bad… do we?" The woman nodded her head.

"We smell hella bad." She said, causing Raph to chuckle slightly. Suddenly, the pair was pulled back into the shadows. Once they got away from the strong grip, they turned ready to battle. It took a few seconds for their brains to register that in front of them was Master Splinter.

"Master Splinter!" Raph said, his look of surprise mirroring Garnet's. Splinter held a finger to his lips, shushing them.

"The others, we got split up." Garnet said in a whisper.

"Come, we must find them." Splinter said as he turned and lead the way. Garnet glanced at Raph and gave him a slightly flirtatious smile before following Master Splinter. Raph watched her walk away and tilted his head slightly. There was never that much swing to her hips before… was there? He shook his head to come back to reality before jogging after them.

**XXX**

Splinter led them from rooftop to rooftop, looking for their brothers. Once they had spotted Mikey and Don, they jumped down into the alley, surprising them. Don leaned Mikey against a wall before pulling his Bo-staff from his holder, ready to fight to defend his baby brother. When the three walked into the light, Don relaxed immensely.

"Am I glad to see you guys." Don said before returning the hug Garnet gave him. When she released him, Raph gave Don a playful punch on the arm.

"We heard you two miles away." Raph then caught sight of Mikey, still leaning against the wall, groaning. The emerald turtle and the woman both moved over to him. "Mikey, you okay?"

"I don't know if I can make it. Raph, is that you?" The youngest turtle asked. "The lights, the lights are going out! It's all going dark! Tell Raph… Tell Raph."

"I'm right here Mikey. I'm right here next to you." Raph said as he laid a hand on his shoulder. At first, Garnet was worried but by this time, she had a feeling something else was going on.

"You tell Raph, he's always been… a big cheese head!" He laughed. "Syke!" The woman nodded her head.

"I had a feeling that was coming." She stood and dusted the knees of her jeans off. Garnet smiled at the brainy turtle.

"I'm glad you two are okay." He turned to her and smiled. "So, what's up with Mikey?" She asked as she glanced down at her baby brother.

"Yeah, same with you guys and he's got a sprained ankle. He'll be just fine."

"Michelangelo. Raphael. Quiet down, if we could hear you so could the Foot ninja. We must move more quickly than this." Master Splinter said, bringing the situation back to their attention.

"We can always leave Mikey behind." Raph said before smirking at the youngest turtle.

"Hey!" Mikey sounded offended. Don searched through his belt, looking for something but when he couldn't find it, he sighed.

"I didn't bring the remote to the Battle Shell." Master Splinter reached into his robe and pulled out the little green device Don was looking for.

"Here." He said. Don and Garnet smiled.

"Perfecto sensei! Looks like…" Don stopped and looked at the entrance of the alley. It was completely blocked with Foot ninjas. "We're surrounded." Garnet turned around and looked behind them; there were more ninjas behind them. Slowly, the ninjas advanced to them. "Master Splinter, use the remote, get the Battle Shell." Don, Garnet, and Raph held off the ninjas. It was about the same as it was earlier, without the Shredder intervening. Garnet laughed when she saw Master Splinter hand the remote to Donnie. Once Splinter joined the fight, Raph and Garnet didn't have to do a thing but sit back and watch.

"Master Splinter… you kicked butt!" Raph said as he looked around at the downed ninjas.

**XXX**

The Battle Shell appeared and once everyone was loaded inside, Don began driving to find Leo.

"Slow down, you drive too quickly." Splinter said as he sat in the passenger seat. Garnet rolled her eyes and glanced at Raph, who glanced back and gave her a small smile. Don turned down an alley. "That turn was too sharp." Garnet covered her ears.

"Get me out of here!" She whispered to Raph, who chuckled lightly.

"Master Splinter, you've been backseat driving the whole way." Don said.

"Really? No one else noticed." Garnet mumbled with sarcasm. Donnie rolled down the window.

"Hey Leo, need a ride?" He asked. Leo smiled.

"Sure. Guys, I'd like to introduce you to…" He looked around the alley surprised. Once the eldest turtle was in the Battle Shell, they all hugged and just appreciated being with each other.

"Good to see you Leo!" Mikey said from the chair he was sitting in.

"We were all pretty worried." Donnie said as he removed his arm from around Leo's neck.

"Yes my children but now, you are safe." Master Splinter said as he walked up to the siblings. What the teens didn't expect was the slap each one of them received.

"**OW!**" Mikey said, holding his cheek.

"**Hey!**" Don held his cheek.

"What was that for?" Raph asked.

"**Seriously!**" Garnet rubbed her own cheek, trying to ease the stinging sensation.

"For being so foolish! You should have never tried to take on the Shredder alone. He is too powerful." Master Splinter replied.

"You're telling me." Donnie said. "I've got bruises that have got bruises."

"Did you see the way the Shredder walked right through that fire?" Leo asked the others.

"Yeah, he's like the Shreddinator so something." Mikey said. Garnet glanced at her brother and raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" She asked. He shrugged his shoulders.

"You have stirred the hornet's nest. He will not rest until he finds us." Master Splinter said seriously as he looked at his children.

"What should we do Master Splinter?" Leo asked. The rat put his head down in thought before raising it up again.

"Let him find us." Their father replied. They all looked at each other confused. "I have long wished to avenge my Master Yoshi, now is the time."

"But how do we let him find us?" Don asked.

"Sit still." Master Splinter replied as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"I don't know Master Splinter; sitting still isn't one of our strong points." Mikey said, only to receive a glare from their father. Garnet scooted a little closer to Raph. "Right, sitting still it is. I like sitting still. Sitting stills good." Garnet rolled her eyes; this was turning out to be a long night.

**XXX**

It had been a few hours and the teens were waiting on top of a building with a small water tower. Out of nowhere, Foot ninjas and the Shredder jumped onto the roof.

"Dude!" Mikey said before rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment as Leo sent him a small glare.

"Let the butt kicking begin." Raph said before each teen drew their weapons. Garnet learned her lesson this time; she crouched down before beginning her transformation. She turned into a large Tigress, seeing as they are the most powerful big cat in the world.

"Foot ninja, attack!" Shredder yelled. The foot and the teens jumped into action. Vaguely, threw Garnet's animal instincts and the sound of her brothers fighting, she heard Master Splinter's voice.

"Remember my children, even the mighty oak bends before the raging storm winds." Garnet swiped at a ninja with her paw, knocking him off the building. She heard Master Splinter again. "Be careful and do not be over confident." Garnet saw Mikey out of the corner of her eyes, kicking ninjas with his sprained ankle. Had it been any other occasion, she probably would have laughed. But she also saw him getting kicked into the metal structure of the water tower by the Shredder. Garnet growled an attacked another two ninjas.

She watched the Shredder attack Donnie and then try to attack Leo before Raph jumped in. Garnet snarled before jumping at the Shredder, clamping her jaws around his right arm. He picked Raph up with his left hand and threw him into the wall beside Donnie, leaving a rather nice dent. Another growl came from Garnet as she bit down harder, the metal on his wrist beginning to bend and creak in protest of the weight. Out the corner of her eyes, she saw his left arm move and before she could do anything, she felt the two blades on the top of his hand sink into her side. Growling in pain, she released his arm and moved away from him.

The Shredder then went after Mikey and Leo but there was nothing the woman could do. She walked over to Raph and Donnie and lay down. While lying there, she turned back into her human form. Raph sat next to her, pulling her head into his lap while Donnie looked over the wound. A few seconds later, Mikey and Leo were thrown beside the three. The oldest and youngest turtles moved closer to their wounded sister.

"None of you will leave here alive!" The Shredder said as he stepped up to the five siblings before raising the same hand that held the blood covered blades.

"No!" Master Splinter yelled as he jumped off the water tower, using his cane to stop the large man's bladed hand. "You destroyed my family once; I will not allow that to happen again."

"No man or _freak_ can defeat me!" Shredder said.

"That remains to be seen." Splinter said in reply. It was amazing watching Master Splinter fight against the Shredder. He was fast and agile, using his surroundings, and even his own opponent to end the battle. With a kick to an already broken part of the structure, the water tower began to fall. The turtles moved Garnet to a part of the roof that would be higher than the rushing water, Splinter landed beside them. The water tower hit the concrete roof, causing the water to push the Foot ninjas and Shredder from the roof into the street below.

They watched as the tower fell off the roof, landing on the Shredder. Then, all went quiet. Not a sound could be heard but the wind. Raph held Garnet close to him, her hand on the wound, trying to stop the bleeding as they all looked at Master Splinter in shock.

"Master Splinter…" Leo began.

"Are you okay?" Mikey asked.

"Come, we have avenged my Master Yoshi. Let us go home; your sister needs medical attention." Splinter said as he turned and began to walk away, causing the turtles to look at the barely conscious girl in Raph's arm.

**XXX**

Raph sat outside Don's lab. A lot had happened today, they stopped Leo from making a big mistake, they fought the Shredder _twice_, and they beat him on their second attempt. Seemed like a pretty good day to the hot headed turtle. Then his thoughts drifted to Garnet…

He'd always been best friends with the woman since she was five (it made him six). They'd done everything together and so, to have the feelings they have comes naturally. When they admitted their feelings in that alleyway, Raph felt like he could have died happy. Of course, that didn't mean he wanted to. He sighed and rubbed his face the image of Garnet, _his_ Garnet, lying in his arms, bleeding was too much.

He looked down at his plastron, he hadn't taken a shower yet so her blood was still there. It hurt him to even look at it. Maybe there was something more to his feelings than just liking her (possibly loving her). He jumped when the lab door opened.

"How is she?" He asked the purple banded turtle. He looked up at him and smiled.

"She's fine, some stitches in her side but she'll be as good as new in two weeks." Raph nodded and peeked around his brother to look into the lab. Donnie gave him a soft smile.

"She still asleep, I have to get April to go get me some pain meds for when she wakes up but you are more than welcome to go see her." The red banded turtle nodded to his brother before walking into the lab.

"Thanks Donnie."

"You're welcome." He looked down at her; she no longer had the pale skin she had when they reached the lair earlier in the day. Raph sat down in the chair and placed his hand over her's. His eyes gazed on her wrapped torso; she was going to be fine. He smiled at that. He then looked at her chest again for a different reason, _has her chest always been that big?_ He thought to himself as he tilted his head slightly. When he realized what he was doing, he looked away, a deep blush on his cheeks.

Garnet had taken a while to develop into a (somewhat) womanly body. Raph noticed his body beginning to change at twelve, it took Garnet until fourteen. He then smiled again, the day had some ups and down but Raph could say that the good outweighed the bad. He stood up and kissed Garnet's forehead. He would be back later, when Donnie was trying to give her the meds, knowing he would need Raph's help to get her to take them, just like when they were kids.


	9. The Shredder Strikes Back Part 1

A/N: Some episodes were skipped but oh well :) I hope you guys like it, please keep reviewing!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**The Shredder Strikes Back: Part 1**_

"_**There are times in your life when you draw on everything you have. Times when you reached down into the deepest part of yourself. When you know you have to give it your all because anything less won't get the job done. It's times like these when you find out who you really are. That is, if you live long enough." ~ Leonardo**_

It had been a couple of months since their first battle with the Shredder. Things were quiet. Well, except for training sessions between Raph and Leo or Raph and Mikey, those had a tendency to get loud. Although for right now, Garnet and her family were living with April. After a trip to an underground city, when they returned to the sewer it was discovered that the Foot Ninjas were patrolling them. It didn't take a scientist to know that the only reason they would be in the sewers was searching for them.

April had seemed a little surprised when they showed up at her door but opened her home to them. It was early in the morning and Garnet was awakened by the sound of her brothers snoring. With a sigh, she got out of the bed in April's spare room (the boys had been nice enough to let her have it, with some encouraging from Raph) and slipped on her robe. She tried to contain her laughter when she walked into the living room. Donnie was lying on the back of the couch with Mikey on the couch under him; Raph lay on the floor in front of the couch. Master Splinter sat in the arm chair just beside the couch.

She jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder. She turned and saw Leo, all ready to go somewhere.

"What are you doing up?" He whispered. Garnet glanced at the clock on the wall; it was about 1:30 in the morning. She turned back to her big brother and shrugged her shoulders.

"Their snoring woke me up." Leo nodded, glancing at them. "What are you doing up?" Garnet asked, even though she was pretty sure she knew the answer.

"I'm going for a training run." Garnet nodded her head, she was right. The turtle nudged her arm with his. "Go back to bed for a little while, you know they won't be up for a while." She nodded her head and tried to stifle a yawn before turning and walking back to the room. She shed her robe before jumping back into bed, snuggling into the covers before closing her eyes.

**XXX**

Mikey's scream awoke the woman once again. She glanced at her clock; it was now close to 5:45. She sighed and rubbed her face before; once again, rising from the bed and slipping her robe back on before walking into the living room. When she entered the room, she saw Mikey sitting on the couch smiling at Raph and Don, who were gazing at him, weapons drawn.

"Words fail me." Raph said as he placed his Sais back into his belt. He sent a smile Garnet's way as he passed her on his way to the bathroom. Apparently Mikey knew what he was doing and jumped over Raph to land in the bathroom.

"First dibs on the bathroom!" He said as he shut the door in Raph's face. The emerald turtle gazed at the door before sighing, laying his head against it. Garnet giggled slightly as she made her way into the kitchen to start making breakfast.

**XXX**

April emerged from the master bedroom an hour or so later. Garnet glanced at Mikey, who was helping her make breakfast, before she looked back and smiled at the woman, who smiled back before looking around the living room.

"I really do have four turtles and a rat sleeping in my living room…" April said as he looked at Raph sitting on the couch, a book in his hand, while Don lay on the back of the couch, reading the book over Raph's shoulder. Master Splinter sat meditating in his chair. "I thought I was just having a really bad dream." Garnet shook her head as she made everything that had to be made on the stove, they'd learned from last time that Mikey should not be near it. "What's burning?" April asked quickly.

"Mikey's toast." Raph said as he flipped the page of his book. Mikey turned back to the living room.

"Hey guys, where's Leo?" He asked.

"He is engaged in his morning exercises." Master Splinter answered without opening his eyes. Don walked over to the window and looked outside.

"If he doesn't get back soon he's going to get soaked." About that time, Garnet could hear the thunder rolling in the distance. "That sky's looking angry."

"Sounds angry." Garnet said while taking out all the plates they would need for breakfast. She glanced out the window and sighed, hopefully Leo would come home soon. "Raph, can you do me a favor?" Garnet asked as she set the plates on the counter. She heard the turtle's footsteps coming up behind her.

"Whatcha need Gar?" He asked. She glanced at him over her shoulder before handing him the plates.

"Can you set the table for me? And not break anything this time; you and Mikey already broke quite a few dishes." She said, sending the turtle a stern glare. He smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"Sure, I can do that." He said as he walked over to the table and placed a plate in front of every chair. April sent the Garnet an appreciative smile, happy that some of her China was saved. She walked over to the table and Donnie pulled the chair out for her.

"Aww, Donnie! Aren't you sweet?!" Garnet smirked as she brought some of the pans over and placed them in the middle of the table on pot holders. He rolled his chocolate brown eyes before smiling at her.

"I never knew how hard it would be for seven people to share a two person apartment." April said as he pulled her hair into a bun. Don laid a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll be out of your way as soon as possible." He said, April looked at him surprised.

"Don't get me wrong, I love you guys, I really do, it's just… my place is too small." April said sadly, watching Garnet place another pot on the table before turning her gaze to Master Splinter.

"We will go as soon as the Foot ninjas are gone from the tunnels surrounding our lair." Master Splinter said. Mikey decided it would be a good idea to carry all of the toast, butter, and jelly at one time. There were two plates of toast, piled as high as it would go without falling, a small tub of butter, and two different kinds of jelly. Garnet rubbed her forehead.

"I'm sorry for anything else that may get broken April." The woman said to the redhead, who shook her head. It was inevitable when Mikey was around.

"You want me to help Mikey?" Garnet asked before their little brother shook his head.

"Nah, I got it." About that time, he threw the plates, butter, and jelly into the air, causing April to squeak, obviously praying for the life of her remaining China plates. She then covered her eyes and hoped for the best. Upon opening them again, she saw that everything was in one piece. Mikey smiled and chuckled.

"Ninja training." He said as he sat down. Garnet began to make a plate, it had some eggs, a couple waffles, and a couple pancakes on it before she stood and walked back into the living room.

"Where ya going Gar?" Raph asked as he watched her walk away.

"To put Leo's plate in the microwave for when he gets back." Master Splinter nodded and smiled at his daughter's thoughtfulness. When she got back to the table, she was surprised to see her plate already filled. She smiled at Raph, as she knew he was the one who did it. The hot headed turtle smiled back. They both missed the looks that Don and Mikey sent to each other, of which a roll of the eyes was included. The boys began digging in, rather sloppily. Garnet took in a deep breath before sighing and began eating her own food.

"So, one would think that table manners were a part of their training." April said while looking at Master Splinter.

"One would think." Splinter and Garnet said together as they watched the boys eat.

"Shouldn't Leo have been back by now?" Mikey asked, thankfully without a mouthful of food.

"Hey, of the five of us, Leo's the one you never have to worry about." Don said with a smile on his face.

**XXX**

"Are you sure Garnet, I can help." April said as she watched the younger woman gather all of the plates and pots on the table.

"No, it's fine April. I got it." She smiled at the redhead before taking the dishes into the kitchen to be washed. As she set them on the counter, she began running the water to try and get it warm. She glanced back over her shoulder when she heard footsteps approaching her, it was Raph and Don.

"Hey, let us take care of it Gar." Raph said as he smiled at her.

"Are you sure, I can do it." She said as she turned to them. Raph shook his head and laid his hands on Garnet's shoulders, turning her towards the living room.

"Nah, we got this." Raph smiled at her before he and Don began to wash and dry the dishes. As she was leaving, Mikey passed her with a smile on his face. She paused to see what he was doing.

"You guys need any help?" He asked.

"Keep him away from the dishes!" April yelled from another room.

"Yes! It worked!" Mike said before laughing before he ran by the woman into another room. She rolled her eyes, laughing at her little brother before reaching into her backpack, grabbing out a book. Lightning lit up the room, causing her to look out the window. It was late and Leo still wasn't back yet. He never took this long on a training run. The woman sat down on the couch and curled her legs up under her as she opened her book and began to read.

**XXX**

It was about three in the afternoon now and it was football time. Raph and Don sat on the couch, Garnet's feet in Raph's lap as they watched the game. Don didn't notice as Raph rubbing Garnet's feet as she read. He'd been a lot sweeter to her after admitting their feelings, almost like they were dating but they hadn't talked about it so it was left alone.

"Panthers, rams, bears, they even got dolphins. Ya think they'd have room for something a little more… reptilian." Raph said. Garnet looked up from her book.

"They have the gators." Raph glanced at her, raising an eye ridge before going back to the game.

"The turtles?" Donnie asked. "My friend, unfortunately, the lowly turtle has been saddled by society with the stereotype of being velocity challenged." He explained. Garnet watched him over the top of her book with a raised eyebrow. Raph turned to the brainy turtle, temporarily ceasing the rubbing on Garnet's feet.

"Say what?" He asked. Garnet smiled and chuckled slightly.

"They're slow!" She laughed as Don pointed to her in a 'yes' motion and Raph stuck his tongue out at her.

"May I have your attention please?" Mike said as he walked in front of the TV. Everyone's gaze turned to the youngest turtle. He burped. A long, nasty burp. Garnet wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out before going back to her book.

"Cool." Raph and Don said, clapping for him. Garnet rolled her eyes and lifted her foot so that it nudged against Raph's hand. He glanced at her out the corner of his eyes before smiling and continued to rub her feet. Mikey smiled and bowed.

"**EW!**" April said from the table. Garnet glanced back at her.

"Tell me about it." She mumbled before smiling slightly as Raph ran over a very ticklish spot on her foot.

"This is what I live with all the time." Master Splinter said to the redhead.

"Please, please. You are too kind." Mikey said as he smiled at his brothers. Don seemed to realize something as he began to stop clapping.

"I can't believe I just clapped for that." He said before looking over at Raph. He glanced at him before nodding. He then, gently, pushed Garnet's feet from his lap.

"That's it, I'm going to look for Leo so we can get this show on the road. No offense April but we really need to get back to our lair." He threw his arms in the air. "I'm going stir crazy!"

"You are going nowhere until your brother returns." Splinter said, pointing a finger at the red banded turtle. "Sit."

"Man! What a jip. We gotta sit around on our butts while Leo's out there having all the fun." Raph said as he sat down, crossing his arms over his chest.

**XXX**

6:45. Something was wrong. Way wrong. Leo never was late. Never as late as this. Raph stared at the clock, as if willing it to change or tell him where Leo was. Don and Mikey looked at each other before the young turtle turned to the clock.

"Hey guys, I'm really starting to get worried. Leo should have checked in by now." He said before turning back to his siblings.

"I know this is a first but I'm thinking Mikey's right." Don said. Garnet nodded before standing from the couch.

"I agree." She picked up her Tessen and placed them in their holders on her thighs.

"Master Splinter?" Raph asked as they all turned to their father. The rat sighed before looking up at his children.

"Go." Such a simple phrase shouldn't have that big an impact on someone. Garnet made her way to the door first, followed by Don, Raph, and Mikey.

"Man, what if something happened to him." Mikey asked. They never made it to the door before a crash sounded behind them. They turned quickly to see Leo falling through the window. Each of the room's occupants were shocked for a minute, their bodies numb for a few seconds.

"Leo!" Don called out to their downed brother.

"Leo, what happened?" Raph asked.

"Leo!" Garnet called to him as she ran towards him. Her brothers, father, and best friend followed. Mikey and Raph kneeled beside Leo, the youngest lifted his head, allowing Garnet to slid behind him and elevate his upper body. His head laid on her chest as the others looked on. He was covered in bruises and cuts. Very weakly, the eldest turtle opened his eyes.

"Who did this to you?" Raph asked. They watched as Leo blinked a couple of times, as if trying to comprehend what their hotheaded brother had asked him before they closed again. Raph turned towards the window, growling as he removed his Sais from his belt. "I'm going to find out who did this!" He jumped onto the air conditioning unit and stopped when Leo tried to talk to him.

"No Raph. Wait." Leo held out a hand for Raph. Immediately, the emerald turtle was by his side once again, laying a hand on his shoulder. Leo reached over and placed his own hand on Raph's shoulder. "He's back. The Shredder." Leo said quietly, the others heard it quite clearly though. Leo slumped against Garnet's chest; she wrapped her arms around her elder brother's form to keep him upright. The others gasped.

The worst possible thing just happened. A member of the family was injured and the supposedly dead Shredder was behind it. What the hell was going to happen now?


	10. The Shredder Strikes Back Part 2

A/N: Here's the second part! Please review and let me know what you guys think! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**The Shredder Strikes Back: Part 2**_

"_**The worst has come to pass, my son Leonardo was out on a training exercise when he was ambushed and chased across the city by the dark forces of the Foot. He was returned to us broken and battered, only to deliver a terrible message. **__He's back. The Shredder. __**I had foolishly thought the worse had come to pass but now I fear it has yet to come." ~ Master Splinter**_

"What?" April asked. "What did he just say!?"

"He said the Shredder's back!" Mikey said to the others.

"No way!" Raph said from his spot by the window, Sais drawn. "We were all there. We all saw what happened that night on the roof." Mikey stood and walked over to the window himself.

"If you read comic books, you'd know the bad guy always comes back. **Always!**"No one could really argue with the youngest turtle. They never lived normal lives so that could very well be a possibility. Garnet still sat behind Leo, arms gently wrapped around him to keep him from falling over.

"We need to get Leo out of here!" April said as she pointed to the door.

"She is right, we must leave now." Splinter said.

"Uh guys." Mikey said, catching the attention of everyone in the room. "We got company!" Surrounding the building were Foot ninjas, further proof of the truth of Leo's warning. "What's the plan? Leo's always the one with the plans so what are we going to do without Leo to come up with a plan." Mikey said to everyone. Garnet rolled her eyes before shifting Leo a little as he started to slip. Raph came over the window.

"No time for a plan." He said.

"Why not?" Mikey asked, only to receive his answer seconds later. Foot ninjas came through every window. Don looked around before turning to Garnet.

"You and Master Splinter take Leo, we'll cover you guys." He said as he pulled his Bo-staff from its holder. The fight began. Garnet turned to April and Master Splinter.

"Help me move him." Quickly, the other two helped the woman move the eldest turtle behind the couch Mikey had moved so that they could put Leo behind it. Once he was settled, Garnet peeked over the top of the couch to see Mikey flying over. The largest Foot ninja she's ever seen followed and was about to bring his katana down on Mikey before Master Splinter jumped into the air and kicked him squarely in the chest, knocking him backwards.

"Michelangelo, Garnet. I will hold them off, help April get your brother down the stairs and out through the antic shop." Mikey turned to look at his injured brother and the two women.

"Leo?" He asked quietly.

"My swords. Where are my swords?" Leo groaned out. Garnet laid her hand on his forehead.

"It's alright, don't worry about it Leo." She said softly.

"Take it easy bro; we're getting you out of here." Mikey said before he looked back over the back of the couch. Each of their brothers were being spread thin over the number of ninjas they had to fight.

"Raphael! Donatello! Cover the rear! Michelangelo! I told you to help Garnet and April get Leonardo downstairs!" Splinter said before jumping back into the fight. Mickey turned to his sister and the redheaded woman.

"Let's do this." He said before he and Garnet each put one of Leo's arms around their shoulders. As they turned, some ninja were advancing towards them. With a glance at his sister, he dropped their eldest brother's arm before pulling his nunchucks from his belt. He began to battle as well. April came over and wrapped Leo's unoccupied arm around her shoulder as the two women made their way to the door.

"I can walk." Leo said. As he tried to remove his arms from around their shoulders, his knees buckled. April almost fell from the sudden weight while Garnet tried to hold him up the best she could.

"Leo, bro, you need to lean on us." Garnet said as she waited for April to regain her balance.

"Garnet… April… Leave me. Get away if you can. This is our fight, not yours." Leo said to the women.

"Not our fight?" April asked.

"Guess what Leo, we may not be blood related but we're family. All of us. And that means wed never run out on you." Garnet glanced around the room. "Now let's go." Slowly, they began walking towards the door. April reached out and opened it, only to receive a very unwelcomed surprise. On the other side of the door were more ninjas. As they backed up, Leo surprised Garnet. He pulled his arm from around her shoulder quickly and using the last of his strength to kick the door closed. Garnet reached back out and grabbed his arm to put it back around her shoulder.

"Mikey!" Garnet called out to the closest turtle. They moved Leo to the side of the door right before the ninjas came rushing in. Mikey growled slightly, a sound that Garnet hardly ever hears, and attacked them. He knocked them down the stairs. He came rushing back into the room.

"Ladies and gentleman, turtles and rats, run do not walk to the nearest exit." He said, pointing down the stairs.

"Thanks Mike." Garnet said as she and April began leading Leo down the stairs.

"Raph! This bus is leaving!" Don said to the hot headed turtle. Garnet glanced back as Don and Master Splinter followed them. Raph was still upstairs in the apartment. She took in a deep breath through her nose, knowing that Raph could take care of himself before she focused on the task at hand.

"Be alert, the shop is our only exit and they know it." Master Splinter warned Mikey as he walked downstairs. Don followed him down the few steps he had gone down.

"Make yourself useful and scope out the store." Don said pointing down stairs.

"No problem." Mikey said before descending down the steps. Garnet's ears twitched towards the door to the shop when she heard it open.

"It's quiet… maybe too quiet. I've always wanted to say that." Garnet rolled her eyes and shook her head before listening for another moment. When she didn't hear anything, she motioned for them to continue moving. Suddenly, Mikey came running back up the stairs.

"Wrong way Mikey." Don whispered to him.

"Wrong way my foot." Mikey said. Garnet raised an eyebrow.

"Poor choice of words." She said. The orange banded turtle nodded before speaking again.

"I know." He said. "Major ambush down there!" Mikey pointed back towards the door.

"We don't have a choice. They're pouring in through the windows upstairs." Donnie said before pointing back the way they had just came.

"Hey, what's the story down there?" Raph yelled down to the group.

"There's some seriously mean looking guys down there!" Mikey yelled back to the older turtle.

"Mean looking?" Donnie asked. "Duh!" He said before walking around Mikey to go down into the shop.

"Don, wait!" Mikey followed the brainy turtle. Don busted into the room and about a minute later came crawling out, looking up the staircase.

"Raphie! We got trouble down here!" Don called to the older turtle.

"Like I don't got trouble up here?" Raph called back before focusing on fighting. Master Splinter entered the room after the two youngest turtles.

"The Shredder's Elite Guard. They are the deadliest of his warriors, lethal assassins." Master Splinter explained before holding his hand out so that Garnet and April would stop.

"Raph, the guys ran into something bad in the shop!" April called up the stairs. Garnet craned her neck over Leo's arm to see.

"Hey, I got my hands full up here!" Raph called back down before throwing another kick at a ninja. Master Splinter ran from the shop, back up the stairs to Raph.

"Go, assist your brothers. I will protect Leonardo." Splinter said as he took the hothead's place. Raph ran down the stairs before jumping over Leo, Garnet, and April.

"Be careful Raph!" Garnet called to him. He turned quickly and smirked.

"Always." Garnet watched the object of her affections run into the room before she dropped to her knees. Leo had dragged both women down with his weight. It was just a sudden drop that there was no way they could have prepared for it.

"Sorry." He mumbled. Garnet nodded her head before planting her feet on the ground, pushing his weight up to try and place him on his feet.

"You're alright Leo." She said before looking over at April, who nodded her head.

"Master Splinter, he's getting worse!" The looked down at them before back at the remaining Foot ninjas on the second floor.

"We can't stay here any longer." Slowly, Splinter began backing up while keeping an eye on the Foot ninjas. Once they had all been defeated, Master Splinter ran to help his sons. Garnet sniffed the air when she caught familiar, unwelcomed scent.

"What's wrong Garnet?" April asked when she noticed the younger woman's change in demeanor.

"Someone's here." April gave her a look and Garnet glanced around. "Other than the Foot, I've smelled this one before." Suddenly, Leo was lifted off the women's shoulders and they were pushed forward. Instantly, Garnet's crimson eyes became golden with cat-like slits as pupils. She turned and saw Hun behind them, that's where she'd smelled the scent before.

"You're friend doesn't look too well." Hun said while placing the finger of his other hand under his chin. Garnet snarled at the man, who simply smirked. He turned and looked Garnet in the eyes. "Should I put him out of his misery?" In what seemed like a second, her transformation was done and she'd attacked Hun. With jaws wide open, she jumped at him and clamped her powerful teeth down on his right shoulder.

The man yelled out as her canine teeth sunk deeply into his skin. He dropped the eldest turtle before wrapping a large hand around one of Garnet's back legs, trying to pull her off. It definitely hurt but until Leo was safe there was no way she was letting go.

"Leo!" Mikey yelled before he and April quickly moved him into the room. Once her brother was out of harm's way, she released his shoulder from her jaw. Hun held his shoulder in pain, trying to spot some of the bleeding.

"Damn mutant…" Garnet's growls became louder. The large man moved faster than she thought he would. It was quick when Hun's fist came down on her head before his other came around her neck, chocking her slightly before he threw her into the same room as her brothers. She hit the wall hard, before she hit the floor. The sheer force from the throw caused her to lose her transformation, becoming her human form once again. She sat up just in time to see the door being kicked in by a familiar figure.

"Oh crud." Raph said. Garnet nodded.

"It's really him…" Mikey said almost in disbelief. "Like Leo said." The Shredder walked into the room, the air just becoming tenser, the storm outside added a nice effect too. Reminded Garnet of the first time they faced him.

"You freaks have been a thorn in my side long enough." The Shredder said, his voice sending chills down the woman's spine. Master Splinter suddenly jumped down in front of the teenagers. "No one opposes the Shredder and now I will have my avenge for our last encounter. Say farewell to each other while you still can."

"Oh yeah, Mister spiky pants? Well, you're the one who should be saying farewell to, uh, yourself!" Mikey said as he pointed at the Shredder, looking proud of what he had said.

"Oh yeah Mikey, that got him." Raph said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Hey, I'm under a lot of pressure here!" Mikey defended himself.

"Silence!" The Shredder yelled.

"This attack is nothing but a cowardly gambit, willing us down by sheer numbers. It is not the way of the true warrior." Master Splinter said to the metal man.

"Guys, I say we shred his butt once and for all." Raph said. "For Leo! You with me?"

"Hell yeah!" Garnet said as she pulled her Tessen from their holders.

"Till the end!" Don said as he skillfully twirled his Bo-staff.

"Which hopefully won't be anytime soon." Mikey said as he got his nunchucks ready. "Right?" He asked before following Raph into battle. Raph jumped to place a kick on the Shredder's head but he was easily deflected. Mikey didn't fare any better. Don almost landed a hit with his Bo-Staff but was kicked back and into a pillar in the room. Garnet growled before her eyes changed back to gold. She ran at the Shredder, opening a Tessen, extending the blades before slashing at the man.

It didn't even leave a scratch on his armor. When she saw that, she quickly back flipped away from the man before he could sink his claws into her again.

"I thought I killed you!" He said to her, she could almost imagine the glare he was sending her. She smirked and dropped into a fighting stance.

"It takes a lot more than a couple claws to the side to kill me." She said.

"Then I'll be more than happy to oblige." Shredder said as he lunged for her. She jumped out of the way of his bladed hand before his other came around and punched her in the gut. This knocked the air out of her and sent her flying into a wall, making a nice dent in it. She slumped to the ground and coughed slightly before looking up at the shadow looming over her. Suddenly, Master Splinter jumped down in front of her, causing the large man to take a step back. "Finish them off. This rodent is mine." He said to his Foot Elites.

"Guys…" Garnet struggled to her knees as the Foot Elites closed in on her brothers. Suddenly, the large glass window shattered and a motorcycle drove in. Garnet couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. With his motorcycle, he took out all of the Elites. He turned it off and stepped off, pushing the hood of his trench coat down.

"Now that's what I call crashing a party." Garnet finally managed to stand up and walk over to her brothers.

"Casey!" Raph said with a smile across his face. As the man walked closer to the group, he took out his baseball bat.

"Although, I've never seen a lamer party in my life." He said as he struck down two of the ninjas. "Where's the band?" He asked Raph before turning to April. "You okay babe?" Garnet blinked and looked at Raph.

"Oh no he didn't!" The pair turned back to watch April and Casey's first meeting.

"Don't call me babe." April said back calmly. The Shredder's growl reminded them of the situation at hand.

"Obliterate him!" The Shredder commanded.

"This can't be the band…" Casey said as he pulled a golf club and his hockey stick from his bag. "I want Rock 'n' Roll man! Good thing I brought my own drumsticks." Garnet rolled her eyes and chuckled a little bit. "Now, who wants to be the drums?" He asked. The teens and Casey fought the Foot ninjas until Hun busted through the door, his shoulder bloody. Garnet smirked.

"Whoa, what happened to Hun?" Mikey asked before kicking another ninja down. Garnet did a spin back side kick before turning to the youngest turtle.

"My teeth happened." Mikey smirked and gave his sister a high five before punching another ninja. Garnet watched Hun and noticed his eyes were on April and Leo. "Oh hell no!" She said, running towards them while changing into a Mountain Lion. She snarled right before latching her jaws onto his left forearm. He raised his right arm as high as he could (she had already bitten that shoulder so it wasn't very high) and brought it down on her head. She saw stars and her head instantly began to throb. He brought his arm over her head again and was about to bring it down when it was caught by a familiar golf club.

"Hun, never, ever touch her again." The large blonde man tried to punch Casey but with Garnet weighing him down it made it quite difficult. Casey easily got behind him and hit him with his hockey stick, sending him flying into a group of oncoming Foot ninjas. Garnet shook her head to clear out the stars before jumping to battle. She could hear the sirens but there wasn't much she could do considering she couldn't talk and she was fighting some evil ninjas.

"Mikey, Garnet! Look!" Raph called to the two youngest siblings. They turned and saw Leo trying to stand on his own. He began to fall forward and Garnet managed to catch him, while in her Puma transformation, and allowed him to lie across her back. Suddenly, the Shredder's shadow loomed over them. He raised his clawed hand, Leo jumped slightly and Garnet's lips pulled back into a fierce looking snarl.

"**NO!**" Master Splinter yelled out as he kicked the Shredder away from the pair. "You strike a wounded warrior, you have no honor."

"I fight to win." The fight between Master Splinter and the Shredder seemed to be going to their father's side, at least until somehow the Shredder landed a cut on the rat's chest. This seemed to throw the entire fight. Leo, who couldn't stand watching their father get attacked by the evil man, used all of his strength to ram himself into a case, toppling it over between Splinter and Shredder. Garnet ran over and caught Leo as he fell back. Splinter watched his eldest son and daughter and his remaining three sons were pinned by Foot ninjas.

"No, I will not let you destroy my family." He said to the Shredder. "My children, retreat." He said before backing up.

"Great, but where to?" Raph asked. Garnet lay beside Leo and watched as April glanced around the room. She pointed to a large metal door in the back.

"Right there!" Mikey glanced back before nodding.

"Got it." He opened the door and flipped on the light. He turned back to the fighting groups. "Everybody in here, we'll hold them off." Master Splinter and April drug Leo into the room, followed by Raph, Don, Casey, Garnet, and then Mikey closed the door behind him, locking it. Garnet shifted back into her human form, exhausted. She has never had to transform more than once a day, maybe once a week. Two in one day was draining. She noticed Raph look around the room.

"Well, this is just great. Small, dark, and no way out." The turtle replaced his Sais to their place on his belt. "Perfect for making our last stand."

"It's a walk in cooler. This shop used to be a grocery store once upon a time." April told the group.

"Fascinating." Raph said with an emotionless voice. He glanced down at Garnet before offering her his hand. With a deep breath, she accepted it, trying to ignore the pain in her shoulder and hip joints. Raph noticed this and wrapped an arm around her and pulled his into her side, allowing her to rest all of her weight against him. After a few minutes of silence, Mikey spoke.

"Kinda quiet out there. You think they all just… went home?" He asked.

"Yeah, we scared 'em off by running in a closet and locking the door." Raph said before both he and Garnet began sniffing the air. "Hey, I smell smoke." He said.

"I smell gas." Garnet said.

"Me too." Don said as he nodded. Raph turned his gaze to Mikey and laid his only available hand on his hip.

"Mikey…" He said in his warning voice. The youngest turtle shrugged his shoulders.

"Not that kinda gas Raph." Garnet said and immediately, they all knew what kinda gas it was. Mikey touched the door before pulling his hand back.

"Hey, this door's getting hot." He then wrapped his hands around the doorknob and tried to pull it open but it wouldn't budge. "It's jammed! It' won't open!" He kept trying to pull it open.

"Gas plus flame equals… Let's book now!" Casey said as he put the pieces together. Raph gently lead Garnet to a wall and helped her lean against it before he made his way to the door.

"We gotta get outta here!" Raph said as he and Mikey tried to use their weapons to get the door to open.

Suddenly, the shop blew. The whole building went up in flames. Everything the siblings had brought with them and everything April owned… gone in the blink of an eye. All because of the Shredder.


	11. Tales of Leo

A/N: This is one of my favorite episodes! I was really excited to write this one and I hope you all like it and will keep reviewing! :) Thank you all for 1,000+ views! :D It's great to know you guys like this story!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**Tales of Leo**_

"_**My revenge is complete. My hated enemies thought they had destroyed me but I am not so easily destroyed. I was merely biding my time, waiting the right moment for my ninja forces to strike. And they struck hard. They herded my enemies to me like sheep to the slaughter and even though allies foolishly came to their aid, my enemies were forced to make a cowardly retreat. But vengeance was mine nonetheless. At last, the turtles are no more!" ~ The Shredder**_

_**XXX**_

_Thirty Seconds Earlier…_

_Raph and Mikey tried and tried to break down the door. Since smelling the gas and smoke and feeling the heat from the door could only mean one thing… the Shredder was prepared to blow them sky-high. Suddenly, flames erupted from the bottom of the door, causing the turtles to back away from it._

"_Trapped like rats…" Mikey said before looking back at Splinter. "No offense sensei." The rat nodded._

"_Leo's in really bad shape. We have to get him out of here." Don said as he and Master Splinter helped support the eldest turtle's weight._

"_Workin' on it!" Raph grunted as he continued to beat his Sais against the door. April went to the back of the room and began to move boxes and other things aside. Casey turned to her._

"_What are you doing?" April looked up from what she was doing._

"_I remember when we first moved in; there was a hole in the wall where a cooling unit was removed." She finally managed to get a large trunk out of the way and there was a small piece of metal on the wall._

"_Raph!" Garnet said, catching the turtle's attention before he ran to the back of the room. He sunk his sai between the metal and the wall and began to pull it away. When it finally broke from the screws, he lifted it up and threw it to the side. April went through first. Raph turned back to the group._

"_That's it, everybody book!" He watched as Casey was next to jump through. Donnie was next, while he and Master Splinter eased Leo through. Mikey turned to help Garnet walked over to the whole in the wall; she slipped through first, followed by Mikey and Raph. Once through, Raph knew Garnet wasn't going to be able to run from how drained she was. He easily picked her up on his back and began jogging after the rest of the family._

_The explosion was large and loud but luckily they had managed to get a great enough distance between them and the shop that it didn't harm them. As the store exploded, April began to cry. Garnet's ears lowered themselves. She knew the woman was upset… she couldn't blame her. In a matter of minutes… she lost everything. Garnet snuggled her head into Raph's neck, breathing in his almost spicy (like cinnamon candy) scent._

_Mikey had taken over helping Don with Leo, the two youngest turtles were looking at each other, seemingly understanding what Garnet had about April. Casey wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him so that she could cry into his chest. Master Splinter walked up to the woman._

"_Forgive me Ms. O'Neil but we must leave the past behind for now. If we are to have a future. Leonardo is badly injured and needs a safe place to heal." The wise rat said._

"_What about the lair?" Mikey asked._

"_Shredder has a whole ninja army down there in the sewers, remember?" Don replied. "We're in no shape to fight."_

"_Hey, we don't run from nobody." Raph said. Garnet lifted her head._

"_We ain't running. We're trying to stay alive." Her standard New York accent came through a little thicker as she fought sleep._

"_We must." Master Splinter said. April turned to look at the rat._

"_But where?" She asked. Casey looked at what remained of the shop._

"_Guys, I have just the place." He said confidently._

**XXX**

_Presently…_

It was cold! Garnet glanced around the small windowless trailer they were in. It was slightly depressing but all and all, it was safer for them to travel that way. Garnet transformed into the biggest Snow Leopard she could and laid wrapped around her brothers. They made sure Leo was the warmest, this ended up being beside her head, between her front legs. She made sure he was carefully placed, the blanket was wrapped tightly around him, and that she was gently covering him. Leaning against her side was Raph, Mikey, and Donnie. The youngest turtle was shivering against the giant cat. Raph glanced at face, as he was sitting closer to her head.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Her golden eyes gazed at the emerald turtle. She nodded her head. She was extremely tired from her _three_ transformations in the past twenty four hours; normally she would never do more than one every three days. She knew she had to stay awake because if she didn't, she wouldn't be able to hold the transformation and they would get colder than they already were. Garnet reached around and nuzzled Raph with her large head before she glanced down at Leo and then Master Splinter, who was sitting in front of her.

"Man, it sucks being cold blooded." Mikey said as he cuddled into her more.

"Is he gonna make it sensei?" Don asked the question that everyone wanted to ask but no one was brave enough to.

"Only time will tell." Splinter said as he shifted the blanket closer around Leo's neck.

**XXX**

Once inside, they got Leo situated on the couch before placing one of the largest blankets they could find on him to keep him warm. Crimson eyes turned to Casey and Mikey as they walked back in with firewood.

"Alright, so it needs some fixin' up. The place got a little rundown since Grandma passed away." The large man said. Garnet's ears twisted in April's direction as she twisted something on the fireplace and lots of soot came down, creating a small cloud of dust. Mikey coughed before looking at the man.

"When was that, in the late Triassic?"

"Dude, you live in a sewer!" Casey replied back. They glared at each other for a minute before Leo moaned, causing them to drop the firewood and come to the eldest turtle. After that, it was silent.

**XXX**

Leo was never alone as each person went to do something. April and Casey left to change clothes and the turtles left to do their own things. Garnet sat by the eldest turtle the whole time. She even convinced Master Splinter to go mediate, to help him clear his mind. The woman couldn't move, the cold weather wasn't helping her aching joints, Raph was constantly tending to her and his elder brother (more so Garnet).

By the time everyone came around Leo again, it was night. The fire was going so it was nice and warm all throughout the house. Suddenly, Raph hit the wall.

"Why won't he wake up?" He asked.

"Healing takes time and Leonardo is recovering from more than just physical wounds." Master Splinter replied to the impatient turtle. "His spirit has also been gravely injured." The rat placed a hand on the top of his head.

"You think he can hear us?" Don asked.

"Perhaps." Master Splinter said as he made room for the brainy turtle to kneel next to him.

"Hey Leo, it's me Don. Listen you're gonna pull through this, I know you are. You have to. I mean, you know what trouble we'd get into without you. Like, remember that time I built that remote control car?" Donnie said to the fallen leader. "There was all kinds of debris clogging up the tunnel and the sewers were overflowing from the heavy rain we'd just had but I wasn't paying attention to that, I just wanted my car back." Garnet smiled as she listened to the story, she had been around when this story happened. "You really came through for me that day Leo, you always do and I know you will again." Raph snorted.

"Looks like you got him hanging on your every word Don." Garnet glared at the turtle before Leo groaned and shifted.

"I think he heard you Raphie!" Casey said.

"Maybe talking to him really does help." April said.

"It is said that the voice of loved one can guide a lost spirit back to its home." Master Splinter said. Mikey walked up to where Don had been kneeling.

"Mind if I take a crack at it?" He asked before kneeling down. "Listen bro, just like concentrate on my voice. Come on Leo, you know how focused you get when you set your mind on something. Like, remember that time when you were trying to perfect katas?" Garnet rolled her eyes but had a smile on her face. She'd been there for this story, watching all of Mikey's crazy antics to snap their elder brother out of his focused trance. "Nothing in the world was going to break your concentration but that wasn't going to stop me from trying." Mikey laughed. "You know how I hate to be ignored." Mikey had tried everything from just being purely annoying to a large burp (after eating onions) in the elder turtle's face. "So then I decided if I couldn't make you laugh, maybe I should just make you say ow. Leo, when you put your mind to it, you're unstoppable. So, how about using that famous focus of yours to come back to us." Garnet watched the youngest turtle before Raph said something.

"Huh, if you ask me Leo's not coming back because he's afraid." Garnet turned and glared at the red banded turtle.

"No one asked you." Mikey said as he turned to the elder turtle.

"Well, he got his butt whooped and now he's too chicken to come back and face it." Raph said as he looked down at Leo, his hands on his hips.

"That's enough Raph." Don said as he laid his hand on the elder's shoulder. Raph shrugged off his hand.

"Well I say who needs ya! It's not like we can't get on without you playing fearless leader." Raph paused. Garnet noticed the tears in his eyes, he was really hurting. The woman reached back and placed her hand on the couch to help herself up. She stepped up to Raph and wrapped her arms around him. The emerald turtle wrapped an arm around her waist and laid his head on hers. She purred lightly, just so Raph could hear and feel it.

"It's okay Raph." Garnet whispered to him as she rubbed a hand over his chest. The emerald turtle took in a deep breath before opening his eyes to look at Leo.

"Back in the day, I always figured that I was gonna be top turtle. I was strongest, bravest. Remember that time I brought you to that closed off section of the sewer? We were playing follow the leader." Garnet smiled as she listened to Raph tell his story. "I don't even know why I told you that story, I guess you just… I mean… What I'm trying to say is…" He placed a hand on his forehead. Garnet hugged the turtle tighter and purred a little louder. Splinter stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Your brother hears you Raphael, he understands." Raph's eyes became teary up again. He gently pulled away from Master Splinter and Garnet before walking to the window, looking out at the snow of Massachusetts. He leaned against the window and closed his eyes, trying to contain himself. Garnet sighed and kneeled down beside Leo.

"Hey bro. Listen, Raph and them have told some great stories but unlike them… I really don't have a really awesome one to tell you." She said as she played with the blanket covering him. "You've always been there for me Leo… whether or not you believe that. You've always been the one to keep me out of trouble or help me try to fix it." She looked up at her older brother's face. "Remember that time when I went into Master Splinter's room while he was away looking for food?"

**XXX**

_Master Splinter's room had always been off limits to the children. Garnet had never understood why so, when the chance presented itself, the young female mutant took the opportunity. She peeked into the room; on the walls were pictures and weapons. She turned and looked behind her before walking into the room._

_ The girl was young enough that she never had a weapon in mind so as she walked around the room, gazing in awe, she saw a large Tessen hanging on the wall. She smiled, it was beautiful. The girl walked up to it and stood up on her toes, trying to reach it. Her fingers brushed against it when I voice caused her to jump._

"_What are you doing in there?" She turned and saw Leo before suddenly, the large Tessen fell to the floor. Both children looked at it like it was an alien. "Garnet…" Leo said as he looked at his sister._

"_Leo! I didn't mean to! You surprised me and I jumped!" She said as she tried to explain to the eldest turtle. He glanced around the doorway before walking into the room._

"_It's okay Garnet. It was my fault I surprised you." It took both children to lift the Tessen on its side before they noticed that something caught it as it fell and tore a portion of the fabric._

"_Master Splinter gonna kill us!" Garnet said as she looked at the cut._

"_No way, it's okay. We'll fix it." He said as he placed a hand under his chin. Suddenly, he snapped. "I got it! Can you go get your sewing kit?" Leo asked. Garnet nodded and ran up the stairs, into her room and grabbed her sewing kit. She ran back down the stairs and into Master Splinter's room. She quickly threaded the needle for Leo and watched as the turtle quickly sewed the fabric back together. It was such a small string and it was well and carefully done that you couldn't even tell that something had happened to it._

"_Man, Leo, you are a life saver." The girl said as she smiled at her brother. He smiled back before using his teeth to cut the small thread._

"_Done, let's get it back up." He said as he stood. "Hurry, Master Splinter will be back soon." Garnet nodded as she stood on her toes to help Leo put it back on the wall, exactly where it was before. Once it was up and they were sure it wasn't going to fall again, the booked it out of Splinter's room and into the living room. They both jumped on the couch and watched whatever was on it._

"_Thanks a lot Leo." Garnet said as she smiled at him. The turtle smiled back._

"_You're welcome." _

**XXX**

"I mean, we ended up telling Master Splinter two days later cause the guilt was killing us but it was nice that you put yourself in "harm's way" to help me with my own problem." Garnet laid her head on the couch. "The others are right, you are so strong… you can come back to us. Please come back." Garnet began to cry. Don, Mikey, and Master Splinter closed their eyes, lowering their head. Raph walked up behind her and kneeled down.

His hand touched her back, letting her know he was there. She turned and looked at him, the tears running down her face. He sighed, mumbling 'oh Garnet', before wrapping his arms fully around her. She turned and cried into his chest, the hot headed turtle sat quietly as the girl cried against him. He rocked her back and forth slightly as he churred. The others looked on, they'd never seen Raph so calm and gentle, the way he acted with Garnet was always a shock to them.

The three transformations, fighting, stress, the sound of Raph's heartbeat and churrs, along with his scent was enough to cause the woman to pass out. Raph watched her closely and waited until her breathing became normal again before wrapping an arm under her knees lifting her up. There was another couch across the living room, where he laid her. He tried to move away but he woman shifted, as if trying to find the turtle. He began to churr again as he stood. She settled again, he kept churring until he was standing by Mikey once again. He looked at the others, who were staring at him.

"What?" He asked. No one answered, only looking from him to Leo. Raph shrugged his shoulders before looking down at Leo and then over at Garnet. Eventually, he was gonna ask her out and eventually the others were gonna find out. But right now, they had something more important to deal with.

**XXX**

Garnet opened her eyes and noticed that they were in a house. She sat still, blinking a few times before looking around. _Right, Casey's Grandma's house._ She sat up and saw the others surrounding Leo, Master Splinter had just finished telling his story of Leo's fear of heights. She stood up and stretched, the ache of her muscles was gone and she felt so much better after her brief nap. She walked over and stood next to Raph, who smiled at her and wrapped at arm around her shoulder in a hug.

"No…fear…" Leo said quietly, causing his siblings to look at him in shock. The turtle opened his eyes and looked at his siblings. They all started cheering. Raph wrapped his arms around Garnet, picking her up and spinning her around. Don hugged Mikey, April hugged Casey, and Splinter was actually crying. Raph set her down and smiled at her before turning to Leo.

"We thought you were gone bro." Raph said. Leo smiled at them.

"I was…but you brought me back… all of you." His voice was very hoarse. Garnet turned and ran into the kitchen to grab the turtle a glass of water. Garnet walked back and kneeled by the turtle's head.

"Here Leo, drink some of this." The blue banded turtle smiled at her before taking the straw between his lips, taking a sip of the cool water.

"Thanks sis." He said smiling at her, his voice was a little stronger now.

"You fought your way back my son." Leo said as he came to stand next to kneel next to Garnet. "You have done well." Leo smiled at the rat.

"Thank you sensei." He then turned his head and closed his eyes, falling asleep.

"The danger has passed, now we must let him rest." Everyone followed Splinter out of the room, Raph falling behind. Garnet paused at turned to the red banded turtle.

"Hey Leo, if you need anything, I'll be right outside." Garnet smiled at the sweet gesture before the emerald turtle turned back to her. She held out her hand to him, she smiled and blushed as he slipped her hand into his and led him outside. Yes, as Master Splinter has said, the worse has come to pass. Raph smiled, everything was falling into place. Soon, he might even ask Garnet out… he nodded his head slightly, that sounded like a pretty good plan to him.


	12. Bonding

A/N: A bit of a filler chapter. It's from episode 20, 'The Monster Hunter'. Sorry I haven't posted recently, I've had a crappy week and it has prevented my urge to write. But here I am! Back and ready to write! Please let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**Bonding**_

Garnet yawned as she stretched. It was way too early to be up and functioning. The sun was just starting to come up and the woman had to admit, it was much more beautiful here in Massachusetts than in New York. She turned her crimson eyes from the white snow to the blue banded turtle moving around the barn. It was warm; the eldest had a fire going, hoping to be able to make new katanas since he lost his originals in the fight against the Shredder's elite.

She sat down on a stool and watched him collect the steel he would need. She had offered her help but the turtle never answered her. It almost reminded her when they were just starting to live together; he always tried to avoid her at all costs. She sighed and flipped some bangs from her face.

Her eyes softened as she watched the turtle move a stick around as it was a katana. He only had one arm so it looked quite odd to the woman. His expression was sad; he dropped the stick, watching it as it broke, before sighing and looking at Garnet. He leaned against the wall for a moment.

"It's gonna be okay Leo." She said, watching his dark blue eyes close before reopening and turning to the fire. Her ear twitched, she wished there was something she could do for him.

**XXX**

The day wore on. Leo tried and tried to make some new katanas but every time he failed. Garnet fought an internal battle to stand and help her brother or just sit back and let the eldest turtle do it on his own. Leo turned to the pile of scrap metal before finding one he liked. He grabbed a hold of it and pulled. Unfortunately, it was trapped under the bigger, heavier pieces of metal. As Garnet stood the metal came free, almost knocking the poor turtle fell back. He sighed and Garnet was just about to sit back down when a familiar voice filled the quiet barn.

"Lookin' good Leo." They both turned to see Raph leaning on a latter leading to the second story.

"Raph, I'm not in the mood." Leo said as he glared at the younger turtle.

"For what?" Raph asked. His voice wasn't questioning in the least, Garnet noticed but apparently Leo didn't.

"I don't need to hear how I messed up in New York, okay? I got my shell kicked. I let everyone down. I lost my swords!" Leo yelled the last one, smacking the piece of steel still in his hands against the pile. "I–" Leo seemed at a loss. Raph glanced at Garnet before sighing, walking over to the eldest turtle.

"Hold on Leo." He picked up a pipe from the ground. "I wasn't going to say anything like that. I was gonna ask what're doing out here?" Raph looked at the pipe like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Nothing." Leo replied. Raph turned to him and swung the pipe lightly.

"Well, that's too bad 'cause I know exactly what you should be doing and I think you and Garnet do too." Raph said, throwing the pipe to Leo before pointing at him. Garnet smiled and walked over the pair, leaning against Raph to look at Leo.

"I think we all do Leo." The elder turtle watched his two younger siblings for a moment before looking at the pipe in his hand. He turned to them and smiled. Right then, they both knew Leo was on board.

**XXX**

The day was spent getting the fire as hot as it could be and getting the steel as moldable as possible. At the moment, Raph and Garnet were working on getting the fire hot. Leo took one of the thinner pieces of steel to try and mold it into the shape of a blade. With one arm it was hard for him; he whipped the sweat from his forehead and was about start hammering again when a pain shot through his arm, causing him to drop the hammer.

Leo kneeled down to grab the hammer but Raph was faster. He handed it to Leo, smiling, before laying a hand on his shoulder. Leo smiled back and both moved back to their spots. Leo hammered the steel a couple more times before sling holding his arm fell off. He flexed his fingers before taking the bandages off his stomach. Garnet smiled at Raph before walking over to Leo.

She slipped her hands into some thick welding gloves before laying them on the metal, out of the way of the hammer. Leo looked up at her and smiled. She smiled back and watched as Leo hammered the steel from rough to smooth. The teens continued this all night, until finally the two blades were done.

**XXX**

Leo smiled and whipped the sweat from forehead. He'd finally finished his new katanas. He looked up and smiled, Raph and Garnet were laying in the hay in front of him. Raph's arms around Garnet with the woman pulled to his chest. Both were breathing softly and quietly. They'd stayed up all night with him and helped him finish, until about 3:30 that morning when they just couldn't stand any longer.

Leo grabbed the sharpening stone and sword polisher and began that small task as Raph stirred from his sleep. He yawned and stretched, only to look down at the sleeping woman. He smiled, her ears twitched ever so often, like a dog running in its sleep. She curled closer to his plastron, sighing. He chuckled softly before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead. He carefully slipped away from the woman and looked at his elder brother, who averted his eyes at the last second so that hotheaded turtle didn't see him staring.

"They look great Leo." Raph whispered as he walked over to stand next to the blue banded turtle. Leo smiled at his little brother.

"Thanks. We all worked hard to make them look this good." Leo said as he finished polishing a blade. Raph's eyes glanced over his brother's form before he smiled and chuckled slightly.

"You almost seem like a brand new you." Raph said. Leo smiled and turned his gaze to Garnet as she began shifting in her sleep. With a yawn, she opened her eyes and looked at her brothers.

"Hey guys." She said as she stood and dusted the hay off her clothes. Both turtles smiled at her as she walked over and looked down at the blades. "We did a good job." She said as she smiled at her eldest brother.

"I think so too." Leo said before strapping them to his back. She smiled and clapped her hands lightly.

"You look good." She said with a wide smile on her face. Raph smiled before laying a hand on each of their shoulders.

"I'm gonna go get the others." The hothead said before walking outside and towards the house. Garnet smiled as he walked away before turning to Leo.

"Let's get the rest of these bandages off." She said as she walked to left side of Leo. She easily untied the bandages, letting them fall to the ground. Leo looked almost completely healed, the bruises and cuts that had littered his body were almost completely gone. Leo turned and looked at his baby sister before wrapping his arms around her in a hug.

"Thank you Garnet. Everything you and Raph did for me last night definitely helped me feel a lot better." The woman smiled before wrapping her arms around him.

"You're welcome. Just remember that we'll always love you and be there to help you, whether you like it or not." The elder turtled chuckled and smiled before releasing her. She began walking to the door as Raph pushed it open. Garnet smiled at everyone before standing in front of the opposite door Raph was standing in front of.

"Allow me introduce you to…" Raph began before looking at Garnet and smiling.

"Leonardo." The said together as the eldest turtle walked into the light.

"New and improved." She winked at the eldest turtle, who smiled and pulled his blades from their holders.

"Uh, hey everyone." He said as he smiled at them.

"Welcome back Leo!" Mikey said as he advanced on their older brother, placing his hands on Leo's shoulders. Everybody cheered before Leo began speaking.

"Guys, I think it's time to return to New York and finish our business with the Shredder. Once and for all." Leo said in his 'leader' voice. Each one of them drew their weapons; Garnet included, and held them above their heads, yelling out.

Garnet smiled. Her family was complete and back together and there was no way anybody else was going to separate them ever again.


	13. Return to New York

A/N: Some of it is my own parts with most parts from the episodes, it's all combined into one chapter. It is my longest chapter to date! Please review and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**Return to New York**_

"_**So these past few months haven't been easy for my family and I. After Leo's battle with the Foot and staying at Casey's grandmother's farm house for a while, he healed and we believed the Foot was off our trail back in the NYC. That was when my brothers, father, and I decided that we were gonna head back. Finally, home sweet home." ~ Garnet**_

The ride back to New York was such as relief. The ride was full of talking and laughter in the trailer. Garnet smiled as she looked around the trailer, her brothers (Leo included) we all talking and laughing with each other as Master Splinter watched them fondly. Garnet, like the others, was extremely happy that Leo had made a full recovery. She felt someone nudge her arm; she looked to her left side and saw Raph smiling at her. She smiled back and nudged him back. She and Raph had gotten closer while in Massachusetts.

They'd been in the snowy state for almost three months and in a matter of four in a half hours they would home. They talked, laughed, and joked until they felt the trailer pulled to a stop. It was still night out, since they wanted to make sure that they weren't seen. Casey opened the door and smiled at the mutants.

"Home sweet home." He said. The family jumped out of the trailer and looked around the city.

"We're home!" Mikey said with a smile on his face as he looked around the city.

"Come on guys." Leo said as he removed the manhole cover. One by one, they all went down into the sewers, ready to fight if there was a reason to. They had no idea if the Foot ninjas were still patrolling for them but if the Shredder thought they were dead from the fire, they would use that to full advantage. Leo went first, checking the tunnels before motioning for Raph to follow him.

"All clear." His rough voice filled the sewer, letting the others know it was okay to advance. Casey advanced forward, kicking an empty can, the sound erupting through the sewers.

"Nice one Casey." Don said as he, Mikey, Garnet, Splinter, and April emerged from the shadows.

"Why don't you just broadcast it to the Foot ninjas?" Mikey asked in a sarcastic voice.

"What Foot Ninjas? I'm telling you there's nobody down here!" Casey said as he walked a little deeper into the sewers. Master Splinter sniffed the air before looking back at Casey.

"I believe you are right Mr. Jones." He said. April placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, that'd be a first." She said. Garnet chuckled slightly. Don walked over to the wall directly in front of them and pulled a little pipe towards them. Pipes started to shift and move. Don turned a valve before a small panel opened and he typed in a code. The wall moved to reveal the entrance to their lair. The door opened and Don walked in first.

"Welcome home everybody." He said. Leo sighed.

"Just like we left it." He said as he gazed around.

"Cool." Raph simply said.

"Home sweet home!" Mikey yelled out. Don went to his lab and turned on his computers.

"And you were worried that the Foot would find this place Mikey." Don said as he turned his chair towards his younger brother, a smile on his face.

"Heck yeah! I couldn't bear the thought of them harming my babies." Mikey said as he rummaged through one of the cabinets. He pulled out some chips or something; he gently hugged them to his body. "Hello my babies." He kissed them. "Daddy missed you. Yes he did." Casey walked the turtle and then shook his head. He ate some before opening the fridge, pulling out the milk. Garnet leaned against the doorway.

"I wouldn't do that Mikey." She said. He shook his head and waved his hand at her before opening it and chugging it. The woman shrugged her shoulders and waited for the show.

"Wouldn't that milk be about three months old?" Casey asked. Suddenly, Mikey spit it out, coughing.

"That would explain the chunks." He said. Garnet smiled and began laughing. Mikey glanced at her before looking at Casey, he'd spit all of it all over the man. Raph was punching the punching bag before he turned to the group.

"I don't get it. Last time the sewers were crawling with Foot goons searching for us. Why would Shredder just send them all home?" Raph continued to punch and kick throughout his question.

"Maybe he thinks there's no one to search for." Leo said as he walked up to the punching bag to stop it from swinging. Raph leaned around the bag to look at Leo.

"You know, being dead might have its advantages." Raph said in a thoughtful voice.

"Yeah, it just might give us the element of surprise." Leo said.

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Mikey asked as he walked out of the kitchen with Garnet and Casey.

"I think he's thinking what you think he's thinking." Don said in reply.

"If he's thinking what I'm thinking then I'm thinking we shouldn't just be thinking." Raph said before pointing to Casey. "What do you think?" Garnet sighed and rolled her eyes.

"What I'm thinking that he's thinking what you're thinking and what I'm thinking about that is we should just shut up and stop thinking." She raised an eyebrow at the emerald turtle, who smirked at her.

"Shredder believes us vanquished in the explosion of Ms. O'Neil's. Thus leaving our enemy open to a surprise attack." Splinter explained to the man, who smiled and nodded, Garnet thought that meant he understood.

"If we're gonna do this we need to find out everything we can about Foot Headquarters." Leo said as he paced back and forth.

"I don't know if I can hack into that system, it was designed by Dr. Baxter Stockman himself." Don said as he typed away at his computer.

"Too bad you don't know anybody who used to work with Stockman." April said before smiling at the purple banded turtle. He smiled back before standing up, letting the redhead have his seat. Garnet walked to Don's lab, packing a few things into his duffle bag before she walked back into the living room.

"I believe it is time to return the Shredder's sword to its former owner." She heard Master Splinter say before she rounded the corner. She watched as Raph walked over to the table the sword was placed on before grabbing the glove sitting next to it.

"Now you're talkin'." He reached up and grabbed the hilt of the sword, only to be shocked and thrown backwards on the couch before bouncing onto the floor. Leo walked over and looked at his younger brother from behind the couch.

"Forget something?" He asked. Raph opened his eyes and turned to Leo.

"Uh, maybe you should have the honor of carrying the sword bro. After all, you're the sword guy." Raph said as he held up the glove. Leo took it into his own hand before walking over to the sword. Garnet smiled at her older brother before standing beside Raph.

"I imagine that hurt." She said as she looked down at the red banded turtle with her hands on her hips. Raph playfully glared up at her.

"Nah, it tickled a little." The woman chuckled before holding her hand out to him. He smiled slightly before placing his hand in her's, letting her help pull him up.

"We're in!" Donnie said, causing everyone to turn their attention to him and April.

"We had to use three different dictionary attack programs to crack the encryption algorithm." April explained.

"Then it's just a simple matter of creating a dummy account and installing a remote access Trojan horse." Donnie added before the pair high fived (or three in Donnie's case).

"Thrilling." Mikey said, his voice filled with sarcasm. Raph looked at Garnet.

"Did you get any of that?" He asked in a whisper. The woman shook her head.

"Not a word." He nodded.

"But can you get us inside?" Leo asked as he walked over to the pair.

"Never mind that, can you get us to Shredder?" Raph asked as he followed Leo towards the pair.

"Getting inside is easy, getting to Shredder… difficult but doable." April said as she pointed to the model on the screen.

"I'm just worried about everything in between." Don said, also pointing to the on-screen model.

"Bring it on!" Raph said.

"I can coordinate the computer systems from this end." April said.

"Great." Leo replied. "Casey and Garnet, stay here and protect April, just in case." Garnet raised an eyebrow before grabbing her brother's arm and pulling him aside.

"What the hell Leo?" She asked in a harsh whisper. The blue banded turtle blinked in surprise.

"What do you mean?" He asked in a whisper. She rolled her crimson eyes.

"What I mean is leaving me here with them. You know I can fight." She whispered back. Leo closed his eyes and nodded his head.

"I knew that was gonna happen. Look, we don't want you hurt, every time we go against the Shredder something happens to you and I really don't want to put the others through that. They went through it enough with me back in Massachusetts; we don't need it here with you." He said back, his voice a little louder and stronger. "You can be here and help April with the computers. We'll be back as soon as possible." She nodded her head and accepted the hug Leo pulled her into. When he released her, they walked back over to the group. Garnet watched as Master Splinter took her place on the mission.

"Let's roll." Raph said as he began to walk towards the door. Garnet reached out and caught his arm. He turned to her.

"Be careful." She whispered. He smiled and winked at her.

"Always." She smiled back, remembering those to be his exact words from his first fight with the Shredder's Elites.

**XXX**

Garnet laid on the couch until she heard Donnie's voice. "April, stage one complete." Garnet knew they were now in the building.

"Roger that Don, downloading worm program now." April said into her headset as she sat in front of the computer.

"So, what are you doing exactly?" Casey asked as he looked at the screen over April's shoulder.

"Whipping up a virus to clog their internal communications network." April replied. Garnet rolled her eyes.

"Fascinating" She mumbled as she kicked off her boots and rolled over, closing her eyes before trying to fall asleep.

**XXX**

"April! Can you find us a way out of here?!" Garnet jumped awake when she heard Donnie's panicked voice. "Fire stairs! Elevator! Anything!" Garnet jumped off the couch and ran over to the pair.

"Working on it. I'll have you an answer in a second." April replied calmly. Garnet watched the woman type away at the keyboard, trying to find a way out for the turtles. Garnet wanted so bad to go help them but she knew that Leo would be pretty upset with her if she tried it.

"Do me a favor… work faster!" Don said. Garnet began shifting from one foot to another, she was very nervous for her brothers. She wished she could be there fighting with them but then that would put more stress on them and they may not fight to the best of their abilities.

"Don! Donnie! What's happening!?" April said into the headset. Now Garnet was really worried.

"April, what's wrong?" Garnet asked. The woman began typing.

"I lost contact with Don. I don't know what's going on." She said, her eyes never leaving the screen. Casey glanced at the red eyed woman before looking back at the redhead in the chair. Garnet turned quickly and grabbed her shoes, slipping them on.

"Where are you going?" The man asked as he looked at her over his shoulder.

"I'm going to help them." She said simply as she grabbed her Shell Cell.

"You'll never make it in time." Casey said, trying to reason with the woman.

"The Shell Cycle is in the garage, I can make it in no time." She grabbed her leather jacket from the back of one of the chairs.

"Wait, doesn't Mikey have his Shell Cell?" April asked the young woman. Garnet turned to the older woman.

"He should, I always make one of them take it." She said before April opened up a new screen on the computer. Garnet raised an eyebrow as she walked over to the computer.

"Mutant clone control, you splice 'em, we slice 'em." She heard Mikey's voice say. Garnet took in a deep breath through her nose before letting it out through her mouth.

"Mikey, is Don okay?" April asked. "He's not answering his Shell Cell…" It was silent for a moment.

"April, what did you find?" Don asked. Garnet smiled when she heard the brainy turtle's voice, it meant he was okay.

"Private elevator, hidden behind a secret panel." Garnet drowned the woman out as she slowly and quietly made her way to the elevator so she could grab the Shell Cycle. The pair didn't even notice her as the elevator closed and began taking her to the surface. Once the doors opened, she sighed and pulled her hair into a ponytail. Leo asked her to stay in the lair… but when had she ever listened to her big brother.

"Here goes nothing." She said to herself as she grabbed her helmet off of one of the shelves. She slipped it over her head and got into the bike. She turned the key and smiled slightly as it rumbled beneath her. She revved it a few times before the garage door opened, she shot forward, flying through the streets towards the Shredder's building.

**XXX**

When she pulled up to the building one thing drew her attention, there was no one out front to guard. _They definitely drew in some attention… made it easier for me._ She hid the bike, took off her helmet, and began walking into the building. There was no sounds at all… she glanced around the room and noticed the Battle Shell lying on its side, pretty much destroyed. Glancing around the room again, she noticed an elevator. She walked over and pressed the button, wondering if it would work. It dinged before the doors opened.

"Alrighty then." She mumbled to herself before getting onto the elevator. She looked at the number of floors, 73… She pressed the top floor, hoping she could stay out of sight until her brothers need her. The elevator dinged again and opened up. Inside, she saw her brothers and father fighting against the Elite ninjas. She slipped out of the elevator into a well shadowed area and watched them all fight. They seemed to be holding their own so Garnet wasn't too worried at that moment. Leo tried backing away from one ninja, only to trip over Donnie's duffle bag. He looked up at the ninja as it jumped into the air, ready to bring its blade down on the elder turtle.

"**NO!**" Garnet yelled as she ran towards them. She transformed into a Tigress, jumping into the air and wrapping her jaws around the ninja's shoulder, landing on him as they hit the ground. She shook her head slightly to make sure her jaws had pierced his skin deeply enough before she released him and lifted her head to look at Leo.

"I thought I told you to stay home." Leo said as he stood up, looking at the large cat. She gave him a cat-ish smirk before shaking her head. The blue handed turtle rolled his eyes, having a pretty good idea about what she would have said had she been able to talk. _Have I ever listened to you? _ Leo shook his head before going back to fighting. Suddenly, the floor opened up and Baxter Stockman came through the floor in a large mechanical suit.

"Destroy the turtles!" The Shredder said to the mechanical man.

"You blind, ignorant, self-important fool." Baxter said to the man. "I didn't make this suit to help you Shredder, I made it to destroy you." Garnet watched silently, wondering if they would take each other out and make their job just that much easier.

"You believe this guy's rap?" Mikey asked Donnie, drawing Garnet's attention away from the Shredder. "Wackjob city."

"Dangerous wackjob city." Donnie answered. Garnet growled at Stockman as he looked down at her. He smirked before turning back to the Shredder. Stockman lifted an arm; we could hear it charging up.

"Take cover!" Raph called out as all of the turtles jumped to the side, away from the missiles that had been shot at them. They'd avoided the first one before the second came, they dodged that one too. Garnet glanced around, he wasn't aiming for a particular person… he just tried to destroy them all. She watched the Shredder jump onto the top of Stockman's suit and slash the glass before it mended itself. Stockman grabbed the Shredder and threw him around a bit before throwing him down to the ground. The man tried to stand before he fell back to the ground.

"It took everything we had to beat the Shredder last time." Raph said as he watched.

"Robonut just took him out in 4.5 seconds." Donnie said. "The Shredder and Hun."

"Um… can we go home now?" Mikey asked as he raised his hand into the air. Stockman turned to them.

"And now, the freaks." Garnet took a step forward and pulled her lips back, snarling at the mechanical man. He began firing all of the weapons he had at them. They all dodged, Garnet accidently hit her head. She shook her head to clear it before looking back over at Stockman, he a hold of Master Splinter.

"Master Splinter!" Donnie yelled to the rat. Garnet glared and snarled at the man before she, Leo, and Raph jumped at him. Garnet swiped at the ankles of the machine, Raph kicked it in the chest, and Leo was slashing away at the robots legs with his katanas. Raph landed from the kick and lead Master Splinter away from the fight. A swift punched knocked Leo down on his back, a kick knocked the Tigress into a wall. Stockman easily knocked Mikey and Don away.

"Is that all you got?" Stockman asked in a smug voice. Garnet opened her eyes and watched as Mikey and Don threw grappling hooks at the mechanical suite's legs, they wrapped around and then the boys pulled them tightly. "Rope? You try to stop me with rope?" Stockman asked sarcastically before laughing. "How primitive."

"I got your primitive right here!" Raph said as he landed a solid kick on the chest of the suite. The force knocked Stockman off balance, resulting in him falling into a hole that was a few stories down before crashing to the ground. The turtles, woman, and Shredder all came over to the hole and looked down.

"That's one minor annoyance disposed of." The armored man said. "Now to finish you fools." They all fell into a fighting stance before Stockman came through the floor, landing in front of the siblings.

"**Baxter Stockman is not so easily dismissed!**" The man yelled to the family. "Kiss your shells goodbye freaks." Stockman said before lighting a flamethrower. They all dodged out of the way, Garnet stood off to the side and watched. Leo jumped and slashed Stockman's machine gun. "My robot arm! No!" He shot at Leo with a missile; it knocked the elder turtle back into a wall, seemingly unconscious. Garnet was surprised when the Shredder ran up to Stockman and cut one of his legs off. Garnet, bolted forward, she, Raph, Mikey, and Donnie hit the off balanced Stockman, knocking him out a window.

"I'm gonna miss that guy… NOT!" Mikey said as they moved away from the ledge. Now it was time to turn their attentions to the other threat. They all drew their weapons, Garnet crouched slightly, growling.

"Alright Shredder, let's finish this!" Leo said.

"I intend to." The metal man said. Suddenly, an explosion blew them all back. Once again, it was Stockman. More missiles were fired, causing them to fly back even further. Garnet hit a metal beam before Mikey landed on her.

"Man, can somebody please shut down that giant, flying toaster oven?" Mikey asked as he rubbed the top of his head. Garnet tended to zone out when something was being discussed that she didn't understand or even care about. She realized as Stockman explained the power of his suit…this was one of those times she clearly zoned out.

"Fire in the hole!" Donnie yelled, catching her attention. She saw her purple banded brother with the suit's severed arm. She didn't think it would work until Raph pulled the scruff of her neck, making her follow him to a safe spot. What looked like a large missile flew towards Stockman, hit him, and carried him high into the sky before it exploded.

"Now, where were we?" The Shredder said as the siblings surrounded him. "Oh yes…" He said before he threw his leg back, kicking Donnie and Raph. Garnet growled before jumping at man, he reeled his leg back and kicked her in the chest, sending her flying back into another pillar. She coughed up a little but if blood before opening her eyes, she watched Master Splinter take a hit for Mikey before being knocked through a window.

"Master Splinter!" Leo called out to him.

"NO!" Raph called. Leo grabbed one of Don's grappling hooks before running towards the destroyed window. He managed to get the hook on a solid pipe before he jumped out. Garnet snarled before jumping at the man. He slashed at her; she ducked before latching onto his calf. Before he could bring his claws down on her, Mikey and Don kicked him through the window into his garden.

Raph, Garnet, Mikey, and Donnie followed him. With all of their ninja skills, they couldn't seem to land a hit on the Shredder; he just kept knocking them away like that annoying fly that flies around your head. Garnet could feel her energy draining from the transformation; she looked up and saw Leo put on the metal glove before drawing the Shredder's sword from his back.

"Get away from my family Shredder!" Leo yelled to the man.

"The Sword of Tengu…" The man mumbled as he watched Leo. The elder turtle swung the sword at the Shredder, blasting him away from the downed Donatello. The armored man flew back and fell through the bridge he had in the garden, landing in the water. Garnet trotted over to Donnie, nudging him with her nose. The purple banded turtle rubbed his head before smiling slightly at his sister.

"I'm okay sis." He said as he stood up. The Shredder climbed out of the pond and pressed a button. Garnet flicked her ears, hearing the dozen or so Foot ninjas coming their way. She turned and glared at the Shredder before growling. The ninjas began blasting at the siblings; one even launched a missile close enough to Leo to make him drop the glove and the Sword of Tengu.

Garnet watched some Foot ninja fly overhead before she turned her attention to the Shredder; he was calmly walking towards the Sword. Garnet knew that if he were to get the sword the teens would be in some serious trouble. The Tigress ran over before jumping in front of the sword, growling at the Shredder. Seconds later, Leo was beside her, his own swords drawn.

"Ah Leonardo… it is unfortunate that you did not join me when I offered you the chance. You could have served me well." The man said to the eldest turtle.

"I'd rather fall in battle with honor than serve you." Leo said back.

"So be it." The man answered. "Elite ninja, to me." Behind him, his four elite ninja appeared. The Shredder crossed his arms. "Finish this." Fighting the elite ninjas with Leo was interesting to Garnet. He tried to handle them all so that she didn't have to get involved but with four ninja and one turtle, once in a while there was going to be at least one ninja that was fighting her. Suddenly, Raph landed beside Leo and Garnet.

"Hey, save some for me guys." Raph said as he twirled his Sais between his fingers.

"I can finish this Raph." Leo said as he attacked another ninja.

"I know, but where's the fun in that bro?" Raph asked as he blocked another ninjas attack. Donnie jumped in and kicked the ninja back.

"We're family." He said.

"We finish this together, besides the cables out at the lair anyway." Mikey said. Raph shook his head and glanced at Garnet.

"If she could talk she'd agree with us, just for the record." Garnet rolled her golden eyes before swiping at one of the ninjas. Working together, they actually managed to beat all of the elite ninjas. They now turned their attention to the Shredder, who was digging through some rubble, looking for the Sword of Tengu.

"It's over Shredder." Leo said to the armored man.

"You are fools." The Shredder said. "This is my fortress. My stronghold. Did you believe you could defeat me here?" The man turned a sphere on top of a dragon statue. The ground opened up and a platform rose, at least twenty or so ninjas were standing there.

"Aw, give me a break!" Mikey said.

"Well, nobody said it was going to be easy." Raph said.

_No, but I was hoping it would be._ Garnet thought to herself as she looked at the group of ninjas in front of them. Suddenly, a man in a gray trench coat jumped down and landed in front of the siblings.

"Easy, no. But perhaps we can offer you a little assistance." The teens stayed silent.

"We?" Raph asked. More men in trench coats jumped out of nowhere. They landed in a crouch before quickly standing to their full height, each pulling a sword from their coats.

"Hurry, we must keep the Shredder from the Sword of Tengu." The first man said as he turned to look at Leo.

"I'll take care of Shredder." He said before running towards the Shredder, who was still shifting through the rubble. Garnet, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey stood back and watched the fight. Raph turned to the woman as she sucked in a deep breath, she began to change back. When the transformation was done, she stood.

"Man, this sucks." She said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"You alright?" Raph asked. She nodded her head.

"Yeah, I was in that form for over my targeted hour and a half. It began draining too much energy after that." She turned and smiled at the red banded turtle before watching the fights. The four of them walked over to Leo, since the new men seemed to be handling the Foot ninjas on their own. They watched as the Shredder found the Sword of Tengu and with a quick blast of energy, knocked all the teens off their feet. Donnie happened to land where the metal glove had originally been dropped.

Garnet opened her eyes and rubbed her head. She turned and watched the Shredder walk up the steps; he was walking towards Raph, who was kneeling on the porch. The woman growled before she ran towards the man. She slid between the armored man's legs before grabbing one of Raph's Sais. She thrusted it up and pushed the blade up and away from the red banded turtle. The man was much larger than the woman and was easily putting all his weight into the sword, pushing her down to her knees. Raph stood, grabbing his other Sai before catching the wrist the Shredder than the sword in. Raph used his foot to knocked Garnet back, keeping her out of range of the Sword of Tengu. The rest of their siblings ran over to the pair before they had to duck from the blade.

"Get in close, it's the only way." Leo said before rolling out of the way of a blast. They all ran towards the Shredder, Leo kicked him in the chest, knocking him back a few steps. He blasted at them again, they quickly dodge. Leo used his two katanas to hold the blade to the ground while Raph used his Sai to knock the blade from his hand.

Don placed his Bo-staff behind the Shredder's knees before Garnet and Mikey kicked him in the chest, making the man trip backwards into the pile of debris. Leo drove his katanas into the ground before jumping into the air after the Sword of Tengu.

"Leo catch!" Donnie yelled as he threw the metal glove in the air. Leo caught the glove in mid-air, slipped it on, and grabbed the sword. He dove at the Shredder but the large man dodged it. The woman almost wanted to laugh, the irony that Leo was now holding the Shredder's sword and the Shredder had both of Leo's katanas. A short standstill before jumped into the air and slashed their swords, both landed and the Shredder's head fell off. Garnet raised an eyebrow at the rolling head before they walked up to Leo. Garnet laid a hand on Leo's shoulder before she walked over to Don, who was fiddling with Stockman's mech-suit's severed arm.

"Only one thing left to do." Leo said as he followed his sister.

"Make sure the Foot can never use this building ever again." Raph said as they came to a stop beside Donnie and Garnet.

"Stockman's radium power cells coupled with the power of the Sword of Tengu should fry most of the tech in this building. Let her rip Leo!" Don called back to his siblings with thumbs up. Leo powered up the Sword before driving it into the arm. The sword exploded before all of the electricity in the building was cut off.

"Let's get Master Splinter and go home." Leo said. Garnet smiled.

"Please, I've had enough for today and I am ready to go to bed." Raph smiled at the woman before nudging her slightly. Leo led them to where he had placed Master Splinter.

"Hey, wait a minute…" He said as they came over to the spot, the only thing there was Master Splinter's walking cane. He kneeled down beside it. "I don't understand… I left him right here. He was in no shape to move."

"How can he be gone?" Mikey asked. Don and Garnet heard the sirens and ran over to the edge.

"Guys, we can't stay here." Don said as he looked down at the Police cars and Fire department trucks.

"We have to go." Garnet said as she turned to her brothers. They glanced at each other before Leo pointed to the helicopter.

"Don, the helicopter." Donnie ran over to it. Leo picked up the cane, looking at it before turning to his brothers. After they got to the helicopter and got situated, they took off and Garnet was extremely happy that Don knew how to drive (in this case fly) almost anything.

"We did it Leo. We defeated Shredder." Raph said.

"But the price was too high." Leo said, talking about Master Splinter.

"You don't think Master Splinter is…" Mikey didn't finish his question. Garnet shook her head.

"No way Mikey." She said as she looked out the window. The ride back to the lair was silent.


	14. Lone Raph and Cub

A/N: This is absolutely one of my favorite episodes, ever! I was so excited to write this! RaphieXGarnet fluff! It's getting fluffier and fluffier, lol! Please review and let me know what you think! Sorry it took so long, schools been kinda hectic.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**Lone Raph and Cub**_

"_**Man, is this gonna be a long night. Two major problems. The first is these guys, your basic criminal-like thugs. This normally wouldn't be a problem…except for the second problem." ~ Garnet**_

"_**Some old guy once said, "Anybody who hates kids and dogs can't be all bad." ~ Raphael**_

"_**Yeah, like I said… it's gonna be a long night." ~ Garnet**_

Master Splinter had been missing for a couple of days now. Garnet's ears twitched back and forth as she listened to her brothers and April move around the lair. Donnie was walking back and forth, fiddling with the hardly working Battle shell. Mikey, Leo, and April were talking about where to look and what to do. Over all of that, Raph's grunts and the sound of him hitting the practice dummy was what Garnet heard.

The woman was sitting on the couch, flipping through a book. She wasn't really reading, she just skimmed, reading parts that interested her. It all went quiet for a moment before Raph let out a yell. Everyone turned to the red banded turtle. Garnet sat her book down on the couch before standing up and walking towards the rest of her family.

"You okay Raph?" Leo asked.

"How can you sit around talking when he's out there somewhere, maybe hurt… bad?" Raph asked the elder turtle as he walked from the practice dummy to the others.

"Like I said, we have to organize the search, look at everything we know." Leo answered.

"But we don't know anything!" Raph yelled to him.

"Well, we know that when we were fighting the Shredder, Master Splinter took a major hit… for me." Mikey said.

"And when we looked for him after the fight… he just wasn't there." Donnie added more to the story. April turned back to the map.

"I've been scanning the Police band for anything like a giant rat sighting." She sighed. "Nothing."

"So we should be out there looking for him." Raph said before he began to walk to the door. Leo followed after him.

"We have been Raph but Master Splinter could be anywhere. How do you search an entire city?" Leo asked the red banded turtle.

"One block at a time." Raph replied. The hotheaded turtle pulled his Sais from the wall.

"Raph, not a good time for the hothead thing." Mikey said, pointing to his head to make a point.

"The Battle Shell is a couple hours from being street ready after the beating it took. We could cover more ground." Donnie said, hoping to persuade the emerald turtle to stay in the lair.

"It's okay." Leo said, holding his hands up. "Go blow off some steam Raph, maybe you'll find something out there."

"Count on it." Raph said as he cracked his knuckles. Garnet watched him for a moment before following him to the door. Raph stopped on the steps and turned to her. "I'm going and you can't stop me." The woman snorted in amusement.

"I've learned that in my ten years of living with you." He smirked. "Look, I'm not gonna stop you but you are really angry right now, and I know how that makes you. I just want you to be careful and don't be afraid to call me if something happens. Okay?" She said to the emerald turtle. He sighed and grabbed one of her hands in his.

"Yeah, I gotcha." He said, his voice quiet and calm. She smiled before taking a step closer, her voice becoming a whisper.

"Just be careful." Raph looked up at her, realizing how close they were and blushed. He also noticed that her own cheeks had a flushed tone to them. He began leaning closer without realizing it but suddenly, it was almost like they realized where they were and took a step back from each other. They're blushes became darker.

"I'm always careful." She rolled her eyes before noticing their hands were still locked together. She reluctantly separated them.

"Remember, call me if something happens or you need me." She said as she turned and began to walk back into the lair. The woman didn't notice the emerald turtle watching her. He shook his head and walked out of the lair.

**XXX**

Garnet spent much of her time walking around the lair, skimming books or staring at whatever was on the TV. With a sigh, she stood up and walked over to Don.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked the brainy turtle. He looked down at her through his magnifying goggles, making his eyes seem extremely larger than they actually were.

"It's the same thing I told you ten minutes ago, no. Maybe you should go find Raph and hang out with him." The turtle smiled before going back to tinkering with the engine. The woman sighed.

"I thought about it but it's too much of a hassle. Sorry I've been bothering you Donnie." She said as she leaned against the front of the Battle Shell. The turtle waved her off.

"Nah, don't worry about it." She smiled before her Shell Cell went off. The song playing was the chorus for The Reason by Hoobastank. She glanced down at it before looking at Don; he was busying himself with the Battle Shell. She turned and ran to the entrance of the lair, slipping out into the sewers. She opened it up and pressed it to her ear.

"Hello?" She said even though she knew it was Raphael.

'_Hey, look I need your help.'_ His rough voice came through the speaker.

"What's up? Where are you?" She asked.

'_Some thugs looking for a kid. The kids in the dumpster I'm looking at, but eventually he's gonna come out and they're gonna find him.'_ Raph said. The woman nodded her head even if he couldn't see her and smiled, that big turtle had a heart… you just had to search for it sometimes.

"Alright, give me the address and I'll be right there." Garnet said as she pulled a pen from behind her ear, writing the address on her hand. "Alright, I'll see you in a minute."

'_Alright. See ya soon.' _She smiled before closing her phone. She sent a text to Mikey (since he was the only one who wouldn't react to her being gone) and headed through the sewers to the address he told her.

**XXX**

Garnet climbed up the latter and lifted the manhole cover. She saw green feet and lifted it off more. Raph turned and looked down and her and smiled.

"You missed all the excitement." He said as he held his hand out for the woman. She smiled and shrugged her shoulders before accepting the hand, letting the strong turtle pull her up. She slid the manhole cover back before watching Raph walk over to a dumpster.

"Kid, it's okay. I won't bite. I'm one of the good guys, honest." Garnet watched the turtle as he talked quietly to the kid in the dumpster. He was never the quiet one; he only ever used that tone of voice with Garnet, especially when they were kids. The kid lifted the lid and looked out at Raph. "Come on, let's get you out of there. Don't be scared." Raph said as he watched the kid jumped out of the dumpster. Garnet stepped up beside Raph and kneeled down to the kid's level.

"What's your name?" She asked gently. Raph leaned down slightly.

"Well?" Raph asked him. The kid opened his green eyes to look at Garnet before glancing at Raph, reeling his arm back, and punching the turtle in the nose. "OW! Cute…" Raph stood up to his full height, rubbing his nose. "Real cute…"

"Just calm down…" Garnet said before the kid punched Raph in the nose again. The woman closed her eyes before placing her head in her hands, taking a deep breath.

"This is gonna be a long night…" She mumbled to herself.

"OW!" The turtle reeled back, pressing both of his hands to his nose. "Man I hate kids… Okay, so we're past the scared part…" One more punch to the nose. Raph pressed his hand to his nose once more. Raph finally caught on and grabbed the next punch. "So far we're kid three and Raph zero but that's gonna even up real quick if you don't keep your hands to yourself." The kid glared at him for a moment.

"What's your name turtle?" He asked. Garnet had finally uncovered her eyes and watched the kid for a second.

"Raphael." The turtle answered before glancing down at Garnet. "This is Garnet." The woman nodded. "So kid, what'd you do to tick off those goons?" The turtle asked as he placed his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Don't call me kid, I'm Tyler." The boy said as he pushed the turtle away. "I can handle this myself."

"Fine, don't tell me. I'm in the middle of something else right now anyway." The turtle said as he turned his back on the boy. "I'm just gonna get you to some place safe and I'm outta here." Garnet watched as the kid watched the turtle for a moment before running.

"Uh, Raph…" Garnet said catching the turtle's attention when he finished his sentence. She pointed to the spot where Tyler used to be standing. Raph turned and looked at the spot and sighed.

"Great… just great." He said. The pair quickly located Tyler and intercepted him. Tyler was running down an alley before he looked back to see if they were following him. Without him being able to see, he ran right into Raph's plastron. He hit the ground and looked up at the pair. Raph was spinning his Sais around his fingers. "You can't sneak away from a ninja kid."

"Believe me, I've tried." Garnet said as she nodded her head.

"Leave me alone!" The boy yelled to them.

"And you can't go messing with those mob goons on your own! You're just a kid! You're gonna get hurt!" Raph yelled to the kid, trying to get his point across. Garnet rolled her eyes, Raph yelling never got a point across to anyone.

"I told you don't call me kid!" Tyler yelled back. "And you're not the boss of me!"

"**Oh yeah!?**"

"**Yeah!**"

"**OH YEAH!?**" After the yelling contest between Tyler and Raphael, the turtle picked the boy up and carried him to the Police Department.

"There's the Police Station, for obvious reasons, we can't go in there." Raph said motioning to Garnet and himself. The woman scoffed before playing with her bandana around her neck.

"Speak for yourself." The turtle glared at her lightly before turning back to the kid.

"Tell 'em where you live and they'll get you home safe." Raph said gently as he sat Tyler down and kneeled to his level.

"But–"

"Get going! And no funny stuff, we're right here watching." Raph turned the boy towards the station. Tyler looked both ways before crossing the street and walked right into the station. "Ah kids…" The pair turned away.

"So, you ever thought about having kids?" Garnet asked Raph before bumping his shoulder with her's. The turtle chuckled lightly.

"Nah, never thought about it. Don't think I ever will if they end up like that." Garnet chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"We'll you'd be raising it so it wouldn't really be like Tyler." She said. The turtle rolled his own eyes before glancing back at the Police Station. Tyler stepped out of the station before glancing around, before coming completely out and running down the street. Tyler ran past the pair before grabbing him by the back of the shirt, lifting him off the ground.

"Tell me what's going on with you or I'm gonna keep taking you back all night." Raph turned and began walking back to the Police Station. "And I'm gonna get more honked off every time." Garnet paused.

"Honked off?" She asked herself before jogging to catch up with the turtle.

"Alright, alright." Tyler said, letting Raph know he was gonna talk. Raph set the boy down and kneeled down to his level. "It started today after school, I got my homework done so my sitter let me watch my favorite movie of all time. Then my mom came home, she was real happy. She's a reporter and she got a tape recording of a bad guy that was gonna put him in jail and she was gonna be famous. I guess the bad guys found out about the tape and they wanted it real bad. But mom knew they'd get rid of us if she gave it to them… so she didn't. She told me I had to be brave; she gave me the tape and told me to run. And that's pretty much where you two showed up."

"You're not making this up? They really got your mom?" Raph said as he stood up and walked a few steps.

"Yeah and I'm gonna go back and kick all their butts!" Tyler said as he kicked the air.

"Bad idea." Raph said. "Look kid…" Tyler glared at the emerald turtle.

"Uh Tyler…" Garnet said, catching the boy's attention, as if he just remembered she was there. "Look, if your story is true, I promise we'll get your mom out but first we need to get you to a safe place."

"No way! You're not dumping me!" Garnet sighed and Raph groaned.

"What does it take to get through to you?" Raph asked him. "It's way too dangerous. You want get–" Raph stopped when saw Tyler begin to cry. Garnet felt her chest clench, she smiled a little bit when Raph face-palmed.

"Tyler… we know how you feel. Our dad has gone missing. Raphael was trying to find him when he found you." She watched as the boy began to stop crying.

"Really?" He asked. The woman gave him a gentle smile and nodded.

"Yeah…"

"Aw, this is truly touching. Is the poor wittle freaks missing their daddy?" A man in a bad tie said. Garnet glanced at Raph.

"Friends of yours?" She asked. Raph rolled his eyes.

"Totally…" Raph turned to look at the other entrance to the alley; there were more goons there too. Raph drew his Sais and dropped into a fighting stance. Garnet pulled one Tessen from her leg holders and dropped into her own stance. The men advanced closer with baseball bats and chains.

"Hand him over. Now." The man said pointing at Tyler.

"Come and get me creepo. I'll kick their butts." Tyler said as he walked towards them, punching at air. Garnet watched as Raph spun his sai around in the air and used the handle end of it to catch the back of Tyler's shirt. He used that to pick him up and place him back behind him. Had they not been about to fight, Garnet would have laughed at the scene. Garnet, like Raph, had no problems taking these goons out. It was a lot easier than fighting the Foot, that's for sure.

The bad tie guy pressed a button on what looked like a hand grenade and threw it at Tyler. Garnet's ears turned towards the boy. She was too far to reach him in time.

"Raph!" She called out to the turtle before kicking another guy in the chest. The emerald turtle turned and saw what his sister was talking about before running to block Tyler. It exploded before ever hitting the turtle. There was a flash of light, a loud boom, and smoke. When the smoke cleared, she ran towards Raph and kneeled down in front of him. She took his face in both of her hands. "Raph, are you okay?" She asked. The turtle rubbed his eyes while keeping his head in Garnet's hands.

"Well, we have a bit of a problem…" Garnet glanced at Tyler, who glanced at her, before looking back at Raph. "I can't see a thing…" Garnet helped the turtle stand before watching the men come closer. Garnet took a defensive stance in front of Raph, mostly because he couldn't see and wouldn't know that she did it (if he knew she would be in "trouble"). "Kid, Garnet… where are you? I'm dizzy and can't see… I'm blind."

"Right behind you." Tyler said.

"I'm right here Raph." Garnet said as she reached back to lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Okay." Raph said before turning around to grab Tyler. "I gotta get you out of here." He picked the boy up.

"If you run straight, there's a skinny guy dead ahead." She heard Tyler say to the turtle. The woman sidestepped so that the turtle didn't run into her. He ran forward and the men dodged him. Garnet ran after Raph, she jumped up into the air; split kicking two men she passed by that tried to grab her. As she landed on the ground she watched Raph run into a wall. She covered her mouth to prevent herself from laughing.

"That was the wall…" Tyler said to the turtle.

"I needed to know that one second earlier." Raph said as he rubbed his head.

"They're coming for us." Tyler said as he pointed at the men. "Get going. Left!"

"The other left!" Garnet said as she began running a head of the turtle. Garnet saw the fire escape, with a glance back before jumping up and climbing onto the platform. She waved at Tyler, to make sure that the boy knew where he was going. Raph lifted his hand until he felt the latter. He set Tyler down, grabbing the latter with both hands before telling the boy to hang on. The boy jumped onto his shell. The pair came to the last platform.

"Tyler, go on a head." She said, gently pushing the boy up the last latter. Raph reached out for Garnet, his hand landed on her lower back, causing her to jump slightly and feel the Goosebumps raise all over her body. Maybe a sports bra wasn't the best thing to wear.

"Gar, where is this thing bolted to the wall?" Garnet reached behind her and grabbed his other hand, placing it on the bolt.

"Right here." The woman then noticed she was shivering slightly. When she had directed Raph, she had pulled his body unbelievable close to her own. She could feel his plastron against her back and his hand, the one she wasn't holding, on her right hip. Raph took his hand off of her hip and grabbed his sai.

"Go ahead up." Raph turned his head, his breath dancing across her neck, making her shiver more.

"Right." She began climbing, when she reached the edge of the roof, she waited and looked down at Raph. He managed to knock the bolt out; Garnet threw her legs over the edge as Raph kicked the rest of the way until it crashed down to the ground. When Raph's head peeked over the edge, Garnet reached down and grabbed his arm, helping him over.

"Thanks." He said as he settled himself on the roof. He picked Tyler up again before they began jumping from roof to roof. Garnet had always wondered what it was like for a blind ninja to try to find their way around… now she knew. Raph finally set Tyler down but the boy didn't stop, he grabbed Raph's hand and pulled him along with him.

"Tyler, where are you taking us kid?" Raph asked as he allowed himself to be lead.

"Just a little further." Tyler said before he let go of Raph's hand. Raph felt around for the edge of the building before sliding down into a sitting position. Garnet stepped closer and kneeled in front him. He reached his hand out, it brushed against her cheek. They both blushed before Garnet reached up and placed his hand in hers. "This is it. This is the place where they have my mom." The boy said, drawing their attention to him.

"Okay, tell me everything you're seeing." Raph said to the boy. Garnet released the turtle's hand before moving beside him and kneeling to be able to peek over the edge.

"I see a couple of goons whose butts I'm gonna kick." Tyler said. Garnet reached over Raph's head and poked the boy's shoulder. The boy looked at her, she shook her head but the boy turned and tried to run off. Raph grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Whoa, quick draw. You better take a breath and think before you act. You can't just go storming off like a hothead. Hey, listen to me… hothead." Raph said with a slight chuckle.

"What?" Tyler asked, looking at the turtle slightly confused.

"Nah, just something my brothers were trying to tell me." Garnet smiled at the red banded turtle as he crossed his arms.

"Hey Raph, Gar, look!" Tyler said as he pointed to the building. Garnet looked back over the edge to where he was pointing.

"I can't look." Raph said, obviously frustrated at the dilemma he was having. Garnet laid a hand on Raph's head; he shook his head lightly, trying to dislodge her hand.

"There she is! It's mom. I gotta get down there." He said before running. Raph stood up slightly.

"Ty, stay up here I'll–"

"I'm not waiting here. I can't, I promised I'd come back for her." Tyler said, determined to change the turtle's mind. "I promised."

"Okay, alright." Raph said, giving in. Garnet smiled, if Raph ever had kids he would be such a push over. "But we do this together. You and Garnet are going to have to be my eyes and no steering me into walls this time, right?" Garnet chuckled slightly. Tyler smiled.

"Yeah right." He said.

"We gotta get our signals straight first. Here's what we do…" Garnet kneeled down to hear Raph better.

**XXX**

Garnet opened the window, looking down into the warehouse. She turned to Raph who had Tyler on his back.

"The coast is clear, jump now." She jumped down and landed gracefully, only to have to jump to her right slightly to avoid being landed on my Raph. As Garnet sniffed around, she could hear Raph doing the same.

"Good thing these guys wear a lot of aftershave." Raph said quietly as they moved behind some crates, Garnet leading the way with Raph gently holding on to her tail, using it as a guide. Tyler stayed close to Raph's side. Garnet watched Raph as he let go of her tail and took in a deep breath before coming around the corner.

"My advice, give up now." He said. "Save yourselves a world of hurt." Garnet glanced around before looking down at Tyler.

"Keep him safe, it's time for me to disappear." She said before taking a few steps back into the shadows. It was all a part of Raph's plan that the goons think it was only him and Tyler and if the pair were to run into any trouble, the woman attack and bail them out. Not much different than her everyday life. She heard the men laugh before a new voice joined the conversation.

"Hey, I should thank you for making things so easy. We just had to wait and you brought the kid right to us." Garnet's ears twitched; man did she hate the sound of his voice. "We got him boss." Garnet peeked from around a crate and saw a man come through the crowd of guys. He was a little smaller than Hun with brown hair. Garnet sighed, looks like she was getting involved sooner than later.

"So this is the costume wearing freak who caused me so much trouble. You know what I do to people who cause me trouble… I make 'em pay." The man took a step towards Raph and the turtle took a step towards the man.

"Talk to me kid, where is he?" Raph asked Tyler.

"You're blind as a bat." The man laughed before punching Raph, sending him flying backwards towards Tyler. All of the other men started cheering on their boss.

"Now kid! Now!" Raph called out to Tyler. Time to put the plan into action.

"Two o'clock." Raph ducked and laid a kick on the man's chest, making him take a few steps back. "Five o'clock." Another kick. "Duck and roll." Raph did as he was told and placed a kick on the man's back.

"Somebody shut that kid up!" The boss said to anyone.

"Three o'clock!" Tyler was able to say before his mouth was covered.

"Nice little game, but now we are playing Blind man's bluff." Garnet growled but he couldn't hear it over the sound of the rest of the men cheering. The sounds of Garnet's transformations were also blocked out by the men. She jumped over a crate, landing between the boss and Raph, growling at him. All noise stopped, Garnet wanted to laugh. Their faces were hilarious…of course, it's not every day you see a Lioness in New York City except at the Zoo.

"What the hell?" The boss asked, taking a step back from Garnet.

"About time." Raph mumbled from his spot on the floor. Garnet turned her head and gave a small roar letting Raph know she heard him. She watched as Raph stood up. She watched Tyler run up to the fight.

"One o'clock!" He yelled. Raph jumped on top of Garnet's back, using her to kick off before kicking the large man in the chest. "Seven o'clock!" A punch and a kick. "Three o'clock!" Another kick and then Tyler repeated one about three times before the man fall to the floor. All of the men looked surprised.

"Don't just stand there, get him!" The skinny man said. Tyler ran forward and grabbed Raph's wrist, pulling him out of the way of the men. Tyler pulled Raph to some crates, placing the turtle's hand on them.

"Here, push these over." Raph began to push and with Garnet's help, he was able to knock them down. Tyler continued to lead Raph through the building. As they came to a door, Garnet transformed back into her human form before taking her bandana and tying it over her ears.

"Tyler, one sec." Raph said, stopping the boys ranting. "It might not be the best thing for your mom to see a big green turtle right now. You promised you'd come back for her. Now go ahead and get her pal." Tyler looked at Raph before looking at Garnet.

"What about you guys?" He asked. Garnet smiled.

"We'll follow you out but remember, head straight for the Police Station." The boy smiled at her and nodded.

"Got it." Raph placed both of his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Hey, we did pretty good for a couple of hotheads." Raph stood up at his full height and Tyler smiled at the turtle. Raph put his sai into the keyhole, moving it around until the lock clicked. The door swung open on its own. Tyler opened it and ran inside, Raph jumped behind the door so the woman inside wouldn't see him. Garnet stood in the doorway, looking down the hall.

"Mom!" Tyler called to her. The woman raised her head, looking at her son before glancing at Garnet, turning back to the Tyler.

"Tyler?" He hugged her before untying her from the chair. "How did you…?" She began to ask.

"Later mom." Tyler answered. His mother looked up at Garnet as her son began to untie the ropes.

"I'm Garnet; I helped your son get to this point." The ropes fell away from the woman. "We need to go."

"Come on mom!" Tyler said as he pulled his mom out of the room and began running down the halls. Garnet closed the door and smiled at Raph, even if he couldn't see it. She watched as Raph rubbed his eyes before pulling his hand back to look at it. He turned to the woman and smiled. Garnet knew he could see again. He nudged her.

"Follow Tyler, I'll meet up with you later." The woman nodded before running down the hall in the same direction Tyler and his mother had went.

**XXX**

Garnet stood on top of a roof, watching Tyler and his mother make their way to the police station. She jumped when she heard something land behind her. She turned quickly and put her hands on her hips.

"Really? You scared the crap out of me." She said. Raph chuckled as he walked over to her.

"You're a ninja and I scared you?" The woman smiled and rolled her own eyes before turning back to watch Tyler and his mom walk into the police station. Tyler looked up at the pair; they smiled and gave him thumbs up before ducking so his mother wouldn't see them. When the door closed, they began walking away.

"I think we did good tonight." She said, nudging the turtle with her shoulder. The large turtle chuckled before watching the woman for a moment. She tilted her head. "What?" She asked. He began to blush and rub the back of his head.

"I… uh… I just forgot how beautiful you were…" He closed his eyes and resisted the urge to face-palm. Garnet smiled gently and grabbed his hand, forcing him to stop. He turned to the woman and opened his eyes.

"Thank you handsome." If the turtle's face could have gotten any redder it would have. She could feel her own face heating up before leaning towards the turtle and pressing her lips to the corner of his mouth. The turtle became rigid before watching the woman as she pulled away from him. She smiled shyly before turning and walking away. She glanced over her shoulder, "You coming handsome?" The turtle watched her and smirked before following her. The run home was comfortably silent.

'_I think after all of this crap is over and we find Master Splinter… I'm gonna ask her out…'_ He thought to himself before smiling. He hoped they would find him soon, he really, _really _wanted to kiss her.


	15. The Search for Master Splinter Part 1

A/N: OMG it took so long and I'm sorry to those who have been waiting! I've been dealing with my final exams that are now over so I think I'll be able to write more. Again, sorry! Please keep reading, reviewing, and favoriting.

_**The Search for Splinter**_

"_**The roar of the crowds, the smell of the grease paint, the death-defying thrill of the high wire. Trust me, this is no circus and if you think it's tough for a basically mutated cat, try one cat and four mutated turtles. If we fall, we're pavement paint but if we make it we just may finally find our missing Master. We also might find the answers to a secret that has plagued us our entire lives, how and why we became what we are." ~ Garnet**_

Garnet watched April use a red permanent mark to circle everywhere they had looked for Master Splinter. When April finished talking to us, Donnie sighed.

"You know, the worst part of this is we don't even know if Master Splinter is still…" Donnie's voice faded before he finished the sentence.

"I… I don't even wanna think about that." Mikey said as he twirled his nunchucks.

"Until we know otherwise Master Splinter is alive and awaiting our rescue." Leo said as he walked over and replaced his katanas in their sheaths. Garnet's ears twitched towards Raph, who was punching the punching bag furiously. He took out his Sais and cut a slash in the bag, letting all the sand escape into the floor of the lair. He turned to the rest of the family.

"I'm done coming home empty handed. We find Splinter… **TONIGHT!**" Garnet nodded her head. She and the others agreed. They all went to their respective vehicles. Mikey got the Sewer Slider and was checking the sewers, Donnie used a hang glider to look from the air, April took the Battle Shell and checked the Junkyard, Leo went off on foot, and Raph and Garnet got on their bikes. Garnet smiled as she drove through the streets, no longer would she have to deal with Raph and his crazy driving.

"Please tell me someone found something." Leo's voice sounded in her earpiece.

"Nada from the sewers." Mikey replied.

"Nothing on the roofs either." Donnie said.

"Or the junkyard, a bunch of rats but none of them ours." April said.

"Man! Where is he!?" Raph yelled, causing Garnet to flinch and her ears to ring.

"Keep it cool Raphie, we'll find him." She said as she turned a sharp corner down another ally. The ride was silent until her earpiece crackled to life again.

"Guys, Raph chasing down a carjacker." Garnet took in a deep breath, groaned, and turned her bike around before typing in Leo's radio coordinates into the GPS computer on her bike. She saw all of her brothers before she turned her bike off and walked over to them. Raph held the man in one hand by the collar, his other hand pulled back, poised to punch.

"Let him go Raph." Leo said. Raph looked over his shoulder at the rest of his family. He let out a deep breath before dropping the guy on the ground.

"Beat it." He simply said before the guy scrambled away from him. Donnie, Mikey, Leo, and Garnet began to walk closer to Raph as he was taking his helmet off.

"Raphael, this doesn't help anything." Leo said, trying to calm the situation.

"Helps more than you think!" Raph yelled to them before throwing his helmet to the ground, causing the glass to bust.

"Gotta admit, the guy knows how to blow off steam." Mikey said as he turned slightly to look at Leo.

"Maybe, but if we're going to find Master Splinter we have to keep a lid on it." Leo said, trying to break through Raph's big head. Garnet sighed before walking over to the red banded turtle, causing him to lift his gaze. She began to purr slightly as she began rubbing his arm. His eyes began to drift close and Garnet smiled, she always (even when they were younger) had a calming effect on the hotheaded turtle. He turned to Leo to respond to his earlier statement.

"Well prowling around ain't cutting anymore, Leo. We need something to go on." Raph said before he turned back to Garnet. She nodded her head and stepped closer, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. He laid an arm over her shoulder before laying his head on top of her's.

"What about the Guardians?" Donnie asked, drawing everyone's attention. "If you think about it, right after Splinter disappeared, they disappeared." Leo and Garnet nodded their heads; their brainy brother did have a point.

"Yeah… HEY! They could have taken him easy." Mikey said, agreeing with Don.

"Somehow we need to hook up with one of those guys." Raph said as he stood up straight, but he never removed his arms from Garnet's shoulder.

"Raph, looks like we might have something to go on." Leo said before turning towards a car that was coming towards us. It was the Battle Shell and it wasn't sounding like it was supposed to. The door opened and April leaned her head out.

"Sorry, after your patch job on this rig even my grandma's tractor handles better." Suddenly, we could hear police sirens. "Come on guys, police are combing the neighborhood." Garnet released Raph and ran over to her bike before walking it towards the back of the Battle Shell. Raph easily got his inside before turning around to help Garnet lift her's. Once they were all in the Battle Shell and settled, April took off… sorta. It was a bumpy ride.

"So… how are we going to get one of the Guardians?" Mikey asked as he tightened his seatbelt once again.

"I haven't quite figured that one out yet…" Leo said as he placed his hand on the wall to avoid hitting it with his head.

"You know, I have a small, minor, possibly good idea." Garnet said, catching everyone's attention. She glanced up to see all of their eyes on her and she squirmed in her seat, she hated being the center of attention. "Well, the Guardians came to fight the Shredder with us, right? Well, they know that the Shredder is gone… what if we went back to Foot HQ and tried to turn the symbol back on… I mean, if any of them can see it they'll come and check it out." Her brothers watched her for a moment before looking at each other.

"That sounds really good." Don was the first one to speak, agreeing with Garnet's seemingly crazy idea.

"Yeah, I think it'll work." Leo responded. "They seem to be all around the city so one of them is likely to see it." The others nodded before telling April to head to the old Foot HQ. They got to the top floor, Mikey and Garnet made a Shredder dummy while Donnie tried to fix the fried wires. Mikey helped Garnet lift the dummy to its feet, where it stayed. Their brothers came jogging over.

"Alright, everything's in place. We need to hide." Leo instructed. All of the teens nodded before they had managed to jump up to the rafters on the roof. As planned (to Garnet's surprise) a guardian came in and "killed" the dummy. Mikey stood behind the man, trying not to laugh. The Guardian turned quickly, his blade ready. Mikey threw up his hands in surrender.

"Whoa! Wait! Wait! Wait!" He said. Garnet and the other turtles jumped to the ground.

"Easy, we're not here to fight." Leo said, trying to defuse the situation since the Guardian still had the blade pointing to Mikey. Garnet growled lowly in her throat, the man glanced at her, moving the blade closer to Mikey. The woman bared her teeth and growled a little louder.

"Don't." It was a simple command that the man seemed surprised to hear. The Guardian turned back to Leo.

"If you lay a trap for me, be prepared to fight." He said calmly.

"Our bad, suppose you can…" Mikey finished his sentence by pointing to the blade being held around his chest level.

"We're looking for answers, that's all." Donnie said as he reached over and gently grabbed Garnet's arm.

"Look elsewhere." The Guardian said. Garnet's crimson eyes watched as Mikey reached into his belt to pull out a turtle tracker and putting it on the blade.

"Cool, elsewhere it is. Now how about putting the sword elsewhere." Mikey said, hoping the man would put the blade back in its sheath without looking at it and seeing the tracker. Mikey pushed the blade away and Garnet's growls quieted. Even though they were the same age (Mikey seemingly the youngest), she always felt protective of him.

"Our Master's missing. We intend to find him." Raph said, speaking for the first time since the Guardian got here. The man powered off his blade and put it back in his coat. He began to walk away from the teens.

"I cannot help you." Garnet glared at his retreating back.

"You once called yourself our ally, if you are at least tell us if he's okay." The man stopped before turning back to the teens.

"I… cannot say." Garnet growled lowly before he threw a smoke bomb onto the ground. When he opened their eyes, he was gone.

"Mikey?" Leo asked as they all turned to their younger brother.

"One turtle tracker dually planted." He smiled and clicked his tongue. Garnet smiled and chuckled. Within seconds, Donnie was leading the way following the tracker's signal.

"He's still on foot, passing fourth and dee." The teenagers jumped onto the roof before looking down at the Guardian as he jumped from the building and ran through the streets, they chased after him. "Man, this guy's fast. He's already made it to twelfth." Leo glanced at the screen in Donnie's hand before turning down the alley in front of them.

"This way." They followed him down the alley. Garnet watched him before jumping in front of her brothers, stopping them.

"What are you doing Garnet?" Raph asked. The woman turned glared at him briefly before pointing to where the Guardian was hiding in a doorway.

"He felt that someone was following him. We stay here for a second, the suspicion leaves and he keeps going, we keep following." She said. Leo nodded his head.

"Good job Garnet." The Guardian continued running. The teenagers followed him as he went down another alley. Two turtles took each side of the alley while Garnet stayed beside Donnie. Leo peeked down the alley before walking to stand in the middle of the alley.

"He's not here!" Leo said in a harsh whisper. His siblings came up next to him.

"It appears his signal disappeared right across the street." Donnie said as he pointed to the building at the end of the alley. They walked down the alley.

"It's just an office building." Leo said as they reached the end.

"So was the Shredder's and that place nearly took us out." Raph said as they looked at the building.

"But why would he go in there?" Donnie asked as he looked back at the screen.

"To have his taxes done?" Mikey asked more than said. Garnet rolled her eyes.

"That's the IRS Mikey and that's not the IRS building." The younger turtle shrugged his shoulder. Donnie set his bag down before reaching inside, searching for something.

"Let's fine out for sure." Donnie said as he pulled out a little turtle camera. Garnet called April who came with the Battle Shell. The teenagers got inside and Donnie hooked up the little camera into the screen on the dashboard. He used the controller to move the little mechanical turtle around the building.

"Now, let's see behind door number one." Don said as he moved the turtle into position. Unfortunately, the little camera was hit by the man's chair, causing it to spin across the floor.

"Whoa, I'm getting carsick." Mikey said as he used his hand to cover his mouth. Garnet nodded, covering her own.

"You and me both." The turtle finally stopped.

"Uh, guys. Here's a new wrinkle." Don said as he looked at the screen. Raph shook his head.

"I don't get it." Donnie looked at him.

"Techno – Cosmic Research Institute." All of the teens (and April) looked at him confused.

"So?" Leo asked.

"Yeah…" Raph asked.

"Huh?" Mikey, of course, asked.

"Umm…" Garnet looked unsure. Donnie closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Say the first letter in each word." Mikey stood up and leaned over the back of Donnie's chair.

"What, T-C-R-I. Sorry, it's not ringing any bells…" His voice faded at the last word. He and the others released what the name meant.

"TCRI? That's…" Raph repeated 'that's' a few times before Mikey did it.

"That's what?" April asked, bringing Mikey out of his broken record stage.

"TCRI was printed on the canister of ooze that mutated us into what we are." Leo answered.

"The secret to our origins could very well lie within the walls of that building." Donnie said before he began to move the small turtle around. "Alright, let's snoop around." He could hear his brothers, sister, and April breathing next to his ear. "Uh, you guys are sucking the oxygen right out of my personal space here." A chorus of sorry happened before each pulled away from the brainy turtle, only to go back to the same position a few seconds later when he turned his attention back to the screen. "Jackpot! The security control room, the brains of their security system." Donnie said once the little camera had landed on the door.

"Can you look under that door to see what we're up against?" Leo asked.

"I think so." Donnie answered before the little camera looked under the gap at the bottom of the door. Someone came walking out of the door, causing the little turtle to once again go spinning around the floor. Seconds after it stopped moving the signal was lost, apparently it had been destroyed.

"Well, now what?" April asked.

"Master Splinter might be in there. Answers we've been looking for our whole lives might be in there. So that means we're going in there." Leo said, drawing everyone's attention to him. They all nodded in reply.

**XXX**

"Now, what exactly have we found out about TCRI?" Leo asked as he stood in front of the TVs, each screen had a different image of the TCRI building on it. "April?" He asked turning to the redhead.

"TCRI is a highly successful new technology company that's been around for the past twenty-five years and whose head corporate liaison is a Mr. Mortu." Leo nodded before Garnet came up to stand beside him.

"These are the blueprints submitted to the city planner's office when the building was constructed." She said while looking at the blueprints on the screen. Mikey zipped down from the ceiling, hanging upside down before looking at Raph and Donnie.

"Looks as boring on the inside as it does on the outside." April continued to type for a moment before she spoke.

"Here's some of what our Cam-Shell recorded before it became road kill." One of the TV screens showed a control panel that was in the security room. "Surveillance cameras cover the perimeter and the roof, all laced with alarm sensors."

"So, what we need is someone smart, capable and techno-savvy enough to get in, find the alarm cut-off, and cut it off." Leo said. Mikey zipped down between him and Garnet, causing the woman to jump slightly.

"ME!" He said loudly.

"No." Leo said seriously at the youngest turtle before looking past him at Garnet. "Garnet and April."

"Huh?" Garnet asked as she raised an eyebrow at her oldest brother.

"Me?" April asked with a shocked look on her face.

"You two will sneak in past the guard, enter the security control room, and deactivate the cameras and alarms." Leo said as he looked between the two women.

"Okay…" April said, unsure. Garnet crossed her arms over her chest and laid her ears back against her head. Donnie threw her a device that she caught with one hand before she looked down at it. Donnie walked over to April to hand her the other one.

"Here's a schematic with some basic security panels you are likely to find inside." Leo took a step forward and pointed to the little device in April's hand.

"Once the alarms are off, contact us on the Shell Cell and we'll gain access through the roof ventilation system." Leo said.

"Makes total sense." April said before looking at Garnet. The younger woman shrugged her shoulders. April turned her attention to Don.

"After we're in, you reset the alarm and surveillance cameras and then sneak back inside unnoticed." He smiled at her.

"Unnoticed?" Garnet asked. Donnie turned to her. "Have you seen the ears and tail… that can't go unnoticed…" Donnie nodded slightly and smiled shyly. Mikey zipped down once more behind April.

"It all rests on your shoulders girls. No pressure." Garnet glared at her younger brother. He smiled before zipping back up.

"Uh huh, that's all good. There's just a teeny tiny detail of that plan missing…" April said before looking at Garnet. Garnet nodded.

"There is a guard sitting at the front desk!" Leo smirked at Garnet and crossed his arms.

"We'll be employing an old ninja trick, the art of distraction." Leo pointed to the door. Everyone turned in that direction.

"Somebody call for a distraction." Casey Jones' voice rang throughout the lair. Garnet and April both dropped their heads into their hands.

"My life is in the hands of a lunatic." April mumbled into her hands. Garnet nodded her head before lifting it when a three fingered hand was placed on her shoulder. She smiled when she saw it was Raph. They turned to Mikey when he started yelling, he had become entangled in the zip lines. Garnet sighed; this was going to be an interesting night.

**XXX**

Garnet fixed her headband that was folding her ears down to her head and she tugged on the skirt she borrowed from April, it was a little shorter than April's was. April walked in first, Garnet following behind her a little slower. She never had been comfortable in heels.

"You got this Gar." She smiled a little when she heard Raph's voice in her ear from the earpiece she was using.

"May I help you?" The guard at the front desk asked.

"Yes, I'm Doctor Vander Pepper this is my assistant Scarlett Oliver." Garnet turned to the redhead and glared slightly. "We are from TMNT University and we're here to see Mr. Mortu." The main stared at the pair blankly.

"Uh, Mr. Mortu doesn't take appointments." He said. Garnet watched him for a moment. He showed no emotion what-so-ever.

"Listen, we've come a long way for this meeting at his request so either get him on the phone or I'm gone." Garnet blinked. That sounded kinda dumb. April crossed her arms and stared at the man. The man stared at the women for another moment before he picked up his phone.

"Doctor Vander Pepper and Scarlett Oliver?" Mikey's voice echoed in both women's ears. The door opened again and Garnet got ready for the Jones fireworks.

"I wanna see the boss man, right now!" He yelled. April and Garnet turned around quickly as the man put the phone down. Casey looked confused for a moment; one of the turtles must have been talking to him. He began to walk towards the desk. He suddenly stopped and turned around. "If anyone's gonna screw this up it'll be you freak face." Garnet's eyes widen, could he be any stupider? He turned around and winced when he noticed everyone's eyes on him.

"Yes?" The man behind the desk said in a monotone voice. Casey finished walking all the way up to the desk.

"I got a complaint about one of your products!" He slammed the toaster down on the desk. Garnet and April took a few steps back, letting Casey have all of the limelight.

"TCRI doesn't manufacture toasters." The man said in his still monotone voice. Garnet glanced over at April and nodded her head. The woman nodded before slowly backing up. Garnet followed her silently. They watched as Casey took out his baseball bat and started hitting things. Casey jumped from the front desk onto the two women standing by the wall, which was their cue to get to the security room.

April opened the door and allowed Garnet to slip through first before she followed. Inside the room was much different than what they had seen on the little turtle cam.

"Impressive…" April said to herself before pulling out the device that Donnie gave her. "I'm looking for the splitter from the main junction box which should look like... absolutely nothing in here." Garnet turned to the older woman.

"We need to figure something out and fast. The guys will be here any minute." April nodded at the younger woman before looking around the room. When they couldn't find anything they radioed the turtles.

"Guys, this isn't going to work." They waited a moment before Donnie answered.

"What's the problem April?"

"I don't recognize the technology! Nothing makes sense in here! I can't turn off the roof alarms or the cameras!" She said frustrated.

"Seriously guys, even I don't know anything about what the hell is in this room!" Garnet said into her earpiece.

"April, Garnet, we'll handle the cameras. Just get the alarms off any way you can." Donnie's voice filled the women's ears.

"Whatever but don't come crying to me if we get captured and tortured and stuff." April said as she walked around the room. Garnet glanced at her out the corner of her eyes and shook her head. April walked over to a tube in the middle of the room, looking at it. "A floor plan would be nice." She touched the tube and it began to glow and whirl. Both women turned and saw a hologram of the building behind them. "Cool!"

"That is pretty awesome…" Garnet said as they both walked closer.

"Now, how do I turn off the roof sensors?" April asked herself as she walked closer to the hologram. She touched the roof of the hologram; it went from light blue to tan.

"Roof sensors, off." A robotic voice said.

"Guys, you're good to go." April said.

**XXX**

"Guys, the roof and the windows are a no go." Donnie said.

"You want another way in?" April asked. "No problem. This things a piece of cake." She began to walk around the hologram. "Find me an entrance point." The hologram lit up a window on the second from the top floor.

"Exhaust cover, currently active." The same robotic voice said.

"Here we go." April said.

"Hey bros, there is an exhaust opening on the West side, 9th floor." Garnet said.

"We'll check it out, thanks." Leo's voice said this time. Garnet sighed; she hoped her brothers would be alright. It was weird for her not to be with them but she knew they needed her to help April and this way, they wouldn't have to worry about her but that didn't keep her from worrying about them.


	16. The Search for Master Splinter Part 2

A/N: Okay, sorry I haven't been updating you guys! I lost inspiration for this story and then I started to get back into my Fast & Furious ones! So now, I'm going to go back to working on this one! Please review, favorite, and follow!

_**The Search for Master Splinter**_

_**Here's what happened so far, try and keep up. After we wiped the floor with Shredder and his Foot fungus, we realized someone had taken Master Splinter. I tell you, we turned this city upside down looking for him, but he was nowhere. Then Donny had a thought. ~ Raphael**_

_**What about the Guardians? If you think about it, right after Splinter disappeared, they disappeared. ~ Donatello**_

_**So we lured one of the Guardians into a conversation. We knew the guy had answers, but he wouldn't talk, so we planted a Turtle tracker on him. We shadowed him into this plain-looking building and knew we'd need help getting inside. We got Casey to create a diversion by going nutso in the lobby. He was a natural choice. And this allowed April and Garnet to sneak into the security control room to deactivate the alarm sensors. She found us the only way in way up on the ninth floor. But as usual, nothing ever goes as planned. ~ Raphael**_

**XXX**

Garnet watched as April walked around the hologram before the woman placed a hand to her earpiece. "Say that again?" She asked.

"There's a booby-trapped hologram covering the ninth floor exhaust port. It's active and the only way inside. Can you shut it down?" Leo's voice said in their ears.

"Uh, standby." April said as she looked over the hologram. "Deactivate ninth floor exhaust port." The hologram turned to that both women could see the side of the building.

"Plasma exhaust system deactivated." The robotic voice said. Garnet nodded her head and turned to April.

"Nice." The redhead smiled at her. A few minutes later, their earpieces cracked to life.

"We're in April, Garnet." Donatello's voice said to them.

"That's great guys." She said before the hologram began to fade. Garnet's eyes widened before he looked at April. Her ears twitched from under the headband, she was just now hearing someone walk into the room. There was no time to hide before a man in a green lab coat walked into the room, his eyes glowed a light blue for a moment before he advanced on the women. Garnet growled at him but it served no purpose. Suddenly, he was shocked causing him to fall to the ground. Behind him, Casey was standing with what looked like a nightstick, only with tech she'd never seen before.

"I take it things got a little out of hand…" Garnet said as she looked at the Casey.

"These people mean business." He said. "Let's book." Garnet and April ran for the door, closing it behind them.

"Let's get out of here." April said, running towards the main entrance.

"Uh, hold on there." Casey said, running after the woman. "You don't want to go in there, believe me." He slid the tech-stick (that is what Garnet decided to call it) into the door handles. This kept it from being opened by the two guards trying to get in from the other side. "Back this way!" They run down one end of the hallway, only to see that, that way was blocked. They turned quickly, that opposite way was blocked too.

"You think we can take them?" April asked Casey.

"Nope, we don't stand a chance but at least we can go down fighting." He said before dropping into a "stance," if you would call it that. Garnet pulled the headband off her ears.

"Yeah, sounds like a wonderful plan… NOT!" Garnet glares at the man before dropped down into her own stance. As the guards advanced closer, they began to walk, knowing that the three had nowhere else to run. April glanced around the hallway, looking for a way out. She touched Casey's shoulder when she noticed a hover car sitting there.

"Guys! Look!" She pointed to it. Casey nodded in agreement but Garnet shook her head.

"You guys go ahead, my brother's need me." Her crimson eyes scanned the hallway; there was more than enough room for a cheetah to be able to spread their legs.

"Are you sure?" April asked. Garnet nodded her head.

"Go." She instructed before she turned into a cheetah, running at the guards. They didn't bother to stop her, stepping to the side to let her run between them and down the hallway. She wasn't worried about April or Casey, she knew that they would be able to get out. Now she just had to find her brothers… and that was the hard part.

**XXX**

Garnet slowed to a walk but never came out of her cheetah form. She came around a corner, only to stop when she noticed a man walking down the hallway, pushing some containers. She walked behind him carefully as he walked into a room, the door closing behind him. As she walked under a vent, the last thing she was expecting was to be landed on. She rolled out from whatever it was and growled loudly, ready to attack. She blinked in surprise when she noticed it was Raphael.

"Raph? Garnet? Are you okay?" The red banded turtle and the cheetah turned to the oldest before nodding their heads. Garnet shifted out of her cat form before she stood on her two feet.

"Are you guys okay?" She asked as she looked over each turtle. They all nodded before looking at the door where the man disappeared. They quickly and quietly ran over to it before Leo pushed it open slightly so that he could look through it. When he deemed it safe, he opened it all the way and let Garnet and the other turtles through. Once inside the small room, they noticed that there were three more doors on each of the other walls. Mikey opened one door.

"Whoa, déjà vu. It's just like this one." The orange banded turtles said as he turned back to his siblings.

"Scout this floor and meet back here in five." Leo said before the remaining teens split up to go through different doors. Garnet followed Raph into one room before trying her own door. Over and over again, when they entered a different room, it looked just like the first. There was no indication that the room was any different. Eventually, the five of them ended up back in the hallway.

"Okay, that was weird." Mikey said.

"No kidding." Garnet said as she glanced around, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I feel like a lab rat looking for cheese." Raph said.

"It's like this is all designed to keep people going in circles." Donnie said as he glanced back at the others. They suddenly heard the elevator moving. Leo opened one of the doors motioning for them to follow him. They ran inside, kneeling down so that they could all look through the crack in the door. Being the youngest had its disadvantages because Garnet ended up on the bottom of the pile, her brothers all leaning their weight on top of her.

"Just be glad we weren't on security detail tonight." One of the guys said as they walked by the room.

"Why?" The other guy asked.

"They had some nutcase smashing up the lobby over a toaster." The first guy said, laughing slightly.

"Oh, that's why they're all reporting to de-contamination." The second guy said with a laugh of his own. "Poor slobs." Once they were gone, Raph opened the door. They all silently walked back into the hallway, looking around.

"Mikey and I can check and see where this elevator goes." Donnie said.

"Good and Raph and I will ghost those two." He said, turning to follow the two. Garnet looked between the two small groups before shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm heading with Donnie and Mikey." She said to Raph, who had waited to see what she was going before he left after Leo. He nodded.

"Alright, be safe." She smiled slightly.

"I will." Donnie, Mikey, and Garnet ran towards the elevator. Mikey had managed to catch it and force it back open, allowing Garnet and Donnie to get in. The doors closed, enveloping them in silence.

"Hmm… ten floors, fifty buttons." Mikey said as he looked at the control panel. "Let's see where you take us." He said as he pressed a random button. The elevator started to move and a few seconds later, the doors opened, revealing a hallway just like the one they had come from.

"Try another floor?" Donnie asked.

"Good idea." Mikey said before pressing another button on the panel. The elevator moved to a hallway that looked just like the two before it. Garnet's left ear twitched.

"Well, this is going to suck." She said almost to herself. Mikey turned to look at Donnie and Garnet.

"Didn't we just do this?" He asked.

"They're all the same, just like the rooms." Donnie said thoughtfully.

"So… what do we do now?" Garnet asked, raising an eyebrow at her brothers.

**XXX**

The plan was to apparently just keep hitting buttons until they found a floor that was different. So far… that wasn't happening. The elevator opened and once again, the hallway was the same.

"Should we…?" Mikey said looking at Don.

"Next." The purple banded turtle said pointing at the control panel. By this time, Garnet had sat down on the ground, watching as they tried to figure out the elevator. Mikey hit another button and a few seconds later, the elevator opened. They both gasped in surprise before they moved to the side, allowing Garnet to see two guards coming towards them. She rolled into the corner beside Mikey before standing up.

"What do we do?" She asked them.

"I don't know…" Donnie said, glancing around. He looked up and pointed up. Mikey and Garnet looked up before nodding. They all jumped up and used each other to stay near the roof. Garnet had her hands pressed into one wall, Donnie had his hands pressed onto her feet, Donnie was feet-to-feet with Mikey, and Mikey had his hands pressed into the wall. Garnet watched as the guards, instead of pressing one button, pressed a sequence of three before the elevator started to move.

"This suit is killing me." The female guard said. "I can't wait to get out of it." When the door opened and they walked out, the three siblings jumped out. Donnie stepped out.

"Wow…" He said. Garnet couldn't help but think of those alien movies she always watched with Mikey. That's what it looked like to her anyway. They watched as the guards stepped on a small platform before they disappeared.

"Did you see…?" Mikey asked, a little nervous.

"Uh-huh." Donnie answered, looking around.

"This is freaky." Garnet said, just now stepping out of the elevator. They walked over to the platforms, looking at them before looking over the edge at what seemed to be a never ending pit. There was nothing but black at the bottom.

"Myself, I would have fired the decorator." Mikey said, shrugging at the looks he received from Donnie and Garnet.

"Just look at this place. It's like some kind of techno-organic fusion." Garnet resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Donnie's geek talk. Don reached into his bag, pulling out a rope. "We're going down there." He looked back at the youngest siblings. Garnet raised an eyebrow at him.

"Excuse me? I don't think so." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Looks more like a gigantic stomach to me." Mikey said, looking over the edge once more. "Which means I don't even wanna think about what's down there in trails or in tails." Garnet rolled her eyes before following Donnie, at least the might not have to deal with Mikey's bad jokes.

**XXX**

Garnet carefully and quietly began to lower herself down. _'This sucks so bad!'_ She thought to herself as she reached the door opening that Mikey and Donnie were looking into. She flipped herself over so that her head was pointing to the ground (the same way Don and Mikey were) and looked inside. There were three guards just standing there. Suddenly, a tube came down and dropped a man in a green and red suit at the back of the line. Suddenly, the man at the front of the line began to peel his skin off. Mikey gasped loudly, causing Garnet and Don to cover his mouth, motioning for him to be quiet. He nodded his head, speaking once his siblings had released his mouth.

"Can this freak show get any weirder?" Once the skin was totally off, they could see that the whole body underneath was a robot except for the stomach. A little pink octopus looking thing was there. Mikey reached over, covering Donnie's mouth as well as his own. The next three "people" did the same as the first, showing more robots and pink octopuses. They flew away from the bodies, landing on these little platforms in front of them. You know those claw machines? Well, that's what came down and grabbed the robot bodies, putting them in some kind of solution. The three siblings watched as they were sprayed with the same liquid they'd put the bodies in.

"Attention, this is an intruder alert. All search protocols are in effect." A robotic voice said.

"Uh-oh. I think we've been found out." Donnie said, looking at Mikey and Garnet. No sooner than Donnie had spoken, one of the aliens pointed towards them.

"Uh-oh." Mikey said. Mikey hit a button on his belt and the ropes tied around them began to pull them back up to where they had come from. When they reached the top, Donnie and Mikey climbed up, turning to help Garnet. Once they were all up, the aliens came from a few holes in the wall, shooting lasers at them.

"This is crazy!" Garnet said, looking over at her brothers.

"Follow me." Donnie said, running to a large hole in the wall. As Garnet approached it, she saw that it was a tunnel… full of orange… slime. With a wrinkled nose, Garnet jumped in it after Donnie and Mikey. When the tunnel came to an end, landed on the floor, covered from head to toe in this goop.

"Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew." Garnet said as she tried to suppress her gag-reflex, trying to get the stuff out of her hair and away from her face.

"Okay, I am officially grossed out!" Mikey said.

"You're not the only one!" Garnet said. They turned and saw two more robots coming towards them, in their hands were some tech-sticks, like the same one Casey had earlier. The three got up and began running down the hall. "This is not how I planned to spend my day!" Garnet said to her brother's as she glanced over her shoulder.

**XXX**

The three slowed to a walk when they had finally outrun the aliens. "I thought we'd never get away from them." Garnet said, panting slightly.

"There's a door right there." Donnie said, pointing to the door. The three walked over to it and when it opened, they couldn't help but smile at what was on the other side.

"Hey, fancy meeting you here." Mikey said to Leo and Raph.

"This way!" Donnie said, motioning for them to follow the three of them. They turned and ran back the way they'd come. They ran through another door before Donnie and Mikey broke off, going over to a tower and pushing on it until it fell in the path of the octopuses. Donnie and Mikey smiled at each other.

"Whoa…" Mikey said. "Matrix city." The larger tower in front of them had what looked like a bunch of pods on it, the same that you would see in some kind of alien movie.

"What is this place?" Raph asked. "The morgue?" Garnet walked over to one of the pods, looking at the alien floating in it.

"I hope not because look!" Leo said, pointing over to one pod. Garnet turned to look; Master Splinter was floating in it. "Master Splinter." Donnie stepped onto the platform, looking at the screen.

"Oh man, is he…?" Mikey asked and Garnet wanted to slap him for even putting the thought in her head.

"I don't think so." Donnie answered. "From what I can tell, this looks like some kind of bio-suspension unit. He's probably in stasis." Raph pulled his Sais from his belt.

"Then let's cut him out." He began walking towards the pod.

"Wait!" Garnet told him, Leo help his arm out, stopping Raph from advancing. "We might do more harm than good."

"Garnet's right." Don said, looking back at the hotheaded turtle. "We don't understand this technology."

"We can't just leave him in there." Mikey said as he stepped up beside Donnie. "Don, figure something out." He said, laying a hand on the brainy turtles shoulder.

"Okay, just give me a minute to study this." Don said as he took at the stats on the screen. There was an explosion behind them from where the aliens had managed to blow up the downed pillar. An energy blast hit right beside the teens, throwing them in different directions. They all hit the ground hard. Leo and Raph were the first ones to get up and to draw their weapons before attacking them. Garnet rolled onto her stomach, watching as Mikey hit one of the aliens, causing him to fly around, blasting things randomly.

"Oh no!" Donnie said when he realized that the blasts were coming closer and closer to Master Splinter. Don jumped up and took the blast, causing him to fly into another room.

"Donnie!" Garnet called to him before she got up, running into the room. The purple banded turtle was lying on the steps of a platform. She ran over to him, kneeling by his side. "Don, come on. Wake up." She said, shaking the turtle gently. She saw Leo, Raph, and Mikey running towards them. They moved Don onto the platform before a man came in.

"Stop! Listen to me; you must get off there immediately." He said. They all gasped in surprise.

"I can't move my feet." Mikey said.

"Me neither." Garnet said as she tried to move. There was a humming sound, the crackle of electricity, and a blue light but after that… there was nothing.


	17. Turtles in Space: The Fugitoid (Part 1)

A/N: Finally in season 2! The last chapter was hard for me to write for some reason but now that I'm starting this season it should come a lot easier! Thank you to everyone for 5,000+ views!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Garnet!

_**Turtles in Space: The Fugitoid (Part 1)**_

"_**When you're a teenage mutant ninja turtle or a teenage mutant human hybrid, a lot of weird things happen. Some you can handle and some you can't. Like when Master Splinter went missing after our victory over the Shredder. And things only got weirder; we found that aliens have taken Master Splinter and had him floating in some bizarre container. When we confronted the aliens, everything just vanished or maybe we did. Whatever happened, I don't think any of us were prepared for how much weirder life was about to get. " ~ Leonardo**_

**XXX**

Suddenly, the five mutant teenagers were able to see. They were outside… but it didn't look like New York.

"Well, that was unpleasant." Mikey said.

"I feel like I've been turned inside out and back again." Raph said as he placed his hands on his head, cracking his neck in an unhealthy manner. Leo was rotating his shoulders, trying to get the kinks out of them. Garnet put her hands on her hips before she twisted her back, listening to it crack several times before she did it in the opposite direction, the same thing happening.

"What happened?" Mikey asked. "That light… the strange lab… those weird robot aliens. Where'd they go?"

"You mean, where'd we go…" Leo said, correcting Mikey as he looked around.

"Some place I don't think we're supposed to be." Don said as they all turned around, they had multiple guns pointed at them.

"Natives don't look to friendly." Mikey said as he leaned over to whisper to Garnet. She placed her hands on her hips, glancing at him.

"You think…" She said.

"I think our best defense might be…" Leo began.

"Some serious butt-kicking ninja action!" Raph said as he drew his Sais, spinning them between his fingers. Don, Leo, Mikey, and Garnet all pulled their weapons out before attacking.

"Fire at will!" The leader gave the command but they weren't able to hit them. As per usual, it didn't take the siblings long to knock every man to the ground. Once they were all down, they met up again.

"What the shell was that all about?" Leo asked as he placed katanas back in their sheaths.

"Whatever it was, it's not over." Don said. "Look!" He said, pointing to the end of the alley. There were lights visible, coming closer and closer to where they were currently standing. A few seconds later, there were men coming towards them, dressed like the ones they had just taken out. Leo drew his katanas out once again.

"Well guys, fight or flight." He said, getting ready for another fight.

"I vote fight." Raph said, holding up his Sais. Garnet glanced at him.

"Well, I knew you were going to say that but I vote flight. We don't know what we're dealing with." She said, trying to talk some sense into her brothers.

"Um… Excuse me, hello!" They turned and saw a robot with green eyes and mouth calling out to them, waving. "Terrapin and feline beings. Yes you. This way, quickly." A light was shined on them before the men started firing on them. The five dodged the blasts.

"I don't know about you but I'm taking my chances with the robot." Garnet said, dodging blasts as she made her way over to the hole she had seen him in. It was only a matter of seconds before Leo, Don, Raph, and Mikey followed her. The woman wasn't prepared to fall forward as Mikey landed on top of her.

"Ow…" The both said, rubbing their heads.

"Hurry, hurry." The robot said. "Those federation troops won't give up the chase so easily." Garnet threw Mikey from her back before standing up. They ran after the robot as he lead them out. Garnet tried not to laugh when Mikey laid his hands on Raph's shoulders and jumped over him.

"Coming through slow-poke." Raph watched Mikey for a second before growling, following his siblings. They ran up multiple sets of steps before they reached the roof.

"Another dead end." Leo said, looking down at the road.

"And here comes the unwelcome wagon." Mikey said, looking behind them at the troops coming. Leo made a split second decision.

"Quick, into that truck!" He pointed to what looked like a dump truck coming down the road towards them.

"No! I hate heights!" The robot said.

"How do you feel about laser guns?!" Leo asked sarcastically before the siblings jumped, landing safely into the truck.

"Oh, this sucks." Garnet said as she sat up, holding her nose to try and block out the smell.

"I don't like this!" The robot said as he jumped. He almost missed the truck, managing to grab the edge and hold on long enough for Raph and Mikey to grab him and pull him in. They'd been driving for a few minutes and everything was quiet. Garnet watched as Leo and Don looked over the edge. Mikey and Raph following their examples before the woman and the robot peeked over the edge as well.

"Where are we?" Leo asked.

"Something tells me this ain't Manhattan." Raph said. Garnet rolled her eyes before smiling slightly.

"And it sure ain't Kansas." He playfully glared at her, gently smacking her shoulder, causing her to laugh slightly.

"I'm not even sure we're on Earth." Don said as he looked around at the city and sky. A few more minutes and the truck stopped, allowing them all to get out. Raph, Mikey, and Don got out first.

"Ah Earth, is that your home planet?" The robot asked as he peeked over the edge at them. "I don't believe it's in this galaxy." He said as he climbed out. Garnet peeked over the edge before jumping down; glancing down the suit she wore when she was with April. It was getting really old, really fast. "At least I've never heard of it." Leo helped the robot down. "Are you the dominate species on your planet?"

"Where are we!?" Raph yelled at him. Garnet felt as though it was a face-palm moment.

"Calm down son." The robot said as he laid his hand on Raph's shoulder. "You are on the planet D'Hoonnib. This galaxy is federation territory."

"A different galaxy…" Donnie asked in awe.

"Master Splinter is so far away. So helpless. We have to help him." Leo said, realizing the severity of the situation. Raph sighed.

"We'll find a way Leo." He said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"We don't even know how we got zapped here in the first place." Don said.

"I think it has something to do back when we were at that weird lab." Garnet said, drawing her brother's attention to her. "I don't know the details but I think it was that platform." She crossed her arms over her chest, looking around.

"The question of how you got here has been perplexing to me." The robot said as he walked closer to them. "How did you materialize like that?"

"Guys, you can compare theories later. Right now, we got company!" Leo pointed down the street to where the troops were making their way towards them.

"Seriously!" Garnet said, throwing her arms in the air.

"More of those bozos." Raph said as he and Leo drew their weapons.

"Don't look now, but those bozos brought a tank!" Don said as the large vehicle came into view.

"How come bad guys always have the best toys?" Mikey asked, pointing to the tank like a child.

"I don't know, but we gotta get out of here." Garnet started backing up, looking for a way out. They had a tank on one side and more troops on the other side. They ran into a small fruit stand (at least that's what it looked like to Garnet). She glanced around, noticing what looked like a manhole cover. She reached out and grabbed Raph's arm, pointing to it. He smiled at her before motioning for all of them to go down. They moved quickly and avoided getting caught by the troops.

**XXX**

Leo and the robot were the last ones to fall in. Don offered his hand to him, whom the robot glanced at before taking it, allowing the purple banded turtle to help him up.

"Check out these fancy sewers!" Mikey said as he glanced around the walls around them. "Clean enough to eat off of." Garnet's ears laid flat on her head before wrinkling her nose.

"Ew…" She followed Leo as he led the way through the water.

"If only we had something to eat." Mikey said as an afterthought.

"So, what's your story?" Don said as he turned to the robot. "Why are those soldiers after you?"

"Hmm, yes. I do owe you a full explanation." He said as he glanced around at them. "You see, I am Professor Honeycutt, at least, I used to be. I was the most brilliant scientist on D'Hoonnib. I had just completed my mental-wave helmet, a device for boosting mind powers, like telepathy and telekinesis. When I was rudely interrupted by General Blanque. Just because he's the head of the Federation military, he thinks he can call anytime he wants. You see, the good general wanted me to build my teleportal device, a device capable of teleporting beings from planet to planet. I built the teleportal as a way to promote peace but General Blanque had other ideas. He wanted to use it as a weapon for death and destruction and that's why, even though he was funding my work… I could never build it for him. It was then I received a distress signal from my worker robot Sal, he had become entangled in some wires. An electrical storm was brewing and we were struck by lightning. The lightning must have triggered my mental-wave helmet, my body was destroyed but my mind was transferred into Sal's robotic shell. Apparently, the good general had been constantly spying on me and was well aware of my transference into this robotic body. He was overjoyed because robots have no rights and the general could do anything he wanted with me now. The teleportal I wouldn't give him as a human he could now take from me while I was a robot. I was able to evade them… until I came into the city. Then that's where you came in." Dr. Honeycutt said looking at all of the teens. Suddenly, a smile spread over Leo's face.

"Guys, are you thinking what I'm thinking…" All eyes turned to the blue banded turtle.

"That an extra-large serving of Kung-pow chicken would be really good right now?!" Mikey said excitedly before he rubbed his hands together and licked his lips. They watched him for a moment in silence before Garnet smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow!"

"The professor's teleportal!" Raph said to Mikey. "Right?" Raph said, glancing at Leo.

"Right." Leo confirmed. "If the professor here…"

"Can build his teleportal…"

"We can use it to go home."

"Home… " Mikey said in almost a dreamy voice before he shook his head, turning back to the professor. "Don't get me wrong Professor Roboto, these sewers on your planet are nice but they don't have that same sewer-fresh stank that our sewers have."

"Am I the only one that's happy about that?" Garnet asked shrugging her shoulders.

"How do they keep these sewers so clean?" Raph asked as he looked around.

"Probably something to do with that!" Donnie said, pointing down the sewer to a light coming towards them. It looked like a bug that its antennas become arms that are used to pick up trash and throw it into the garbage-disposal of a mouth. Quickly, they turned and ran down the sewer.

"It's gaining on us!" Mikey yelled out.

"I don't think we can outrun it!" Don said, glancing back at it over his shoulder. Leo stopped, pulling his katanas from their sheaths.

"Then I guess it's time to rage against the machine!" The rest of them pulled out their weapons. Garnet looked at Leo and smirked.

"That was pretty good Leo. Come up with that yourself?" He scoffed, smiling at her slightly before turning back to the task at hand.

"If you guys can slow it down, I think I can stop it." Donnie said.

"I've got an idea." Leo said as he jumped into the air, cutting some pipes from the ceiling. Leo grabbed one as Raph jumped up to grab one.

"Mikey, Garnet! Think fast!" Raph said as he kicked two towards the youngest teens. They easily grabbed them before landing in front of the garbage-bug, using the pipes to hold it back.

"Hurry Donnie!" Leo said as the four holding it back put all of the strength into it. Donnie jumped up, knocking back its claw-arms before landing on it back, using his bo-staff to open a panel.

"Donnie, I don't know how long we can hold this thing." Mikey said as Professor Honeycutt grabbed another one of the pipes, helping to hold the thing back. Donnie finally got the panel open before looking inside.

"Raph, toss me a sai!" He yelled down to them. Raph reached into his belt, pulling out a sai and throwing it up to Don before the robot jumped forward, knocking the three turtles, the woman, and the robot off their feet. Don managed to grab the sai, lifting it high above his head before stabbing it into the mechanics of the machine. Sparks flew and the robot thrashed around, knocking Don off its back before things went silent. The robot fell into the few feet of water below it, before it fell still.

"See, piece of cake." Don said smiling. Garnet rolled her eyes, offering her hand to the turtle. He smiled softly at her, accepting the hand, allowing his sister to help him up. She tried not to smile at the glares the other turtles were sending in Donnie's direction.

**XXX**

They'd finally made it topside, each of them crawling out. Garnet looked down at her wet clothes, wrinkling her nose and sticking her tongue out. "I have got to get out of this skirt." She glanced around, looking for any kind of clothes. Her ears perked forward when she saw an alien with a fruit (what she thought was fruit) stand, talking to some confederation soldiers. "Let's get out of here." She said, moving away from the hole. The others glanced at what she had been looking at, now seeing the soldiers for themselves. They followed her quickly, letting her lead them into an alley.

"Man, those soldiers are everywhere." Raph said, breaking the silence that had formed.

"Indeed." Professor Honeycutt said from behind him.

"We need to get out of the city fast." Leo said. "Raphael, we're going to need some transportation." Raph winked at him.

"Back in two." He said before running off.

"Be careful!" Garnet called to him.

"I will!" He yelled back with a wave over his shoulder. She smiled before turning back to her brothers.

"Um… I'll keep an eye on him!" Mikey said before quickly following after the red banded turtle.

"Well, guess that means were stuck here without entertainment until they get back." Garnet said, smiling at them as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Guess so." Leo said, crossing his arms over his chest with a small smile on his face.

**XXX**

"You got a tank…" Garnet asked Raph as he and Mikey smiled down at the group.

"Yep." He smiled widely at her.

"And how, pray-tell, did you get it?" She crossed her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well, that's a trademark secret doll." He said, leaning on his elbows as he looked over the edge at her.

"Doll? Right, well… I'm sure that secret doesn't have to do with Mikey's smarts or Raphie's charm now does it." Both turtles raised an eyebrow at her before looking at each other.

"I don't know whether to be offended or okay with what she said." Mikey said to his older brother.

"I know…" Raph said before looking back down at everyone. "Hurry up and get in so we can go." He and Mikey disappeared back into the tank. Once they were all inside, Raph began driving. He just followed the streets since no one really seemed to care about the tank.

"Nothing like riding in style!" Donnie said as he looked at some of the equipment on the tank.

"Couldn't you have boosted something a little less, I don't know, conspicuous? Something that might blend in better?!" Leo said from his position leaning against het wall.

"Are you kidding? This puppy's practically invisible it blends so well." Raph said, not taking his eyes off the road in front of him.

"Well, you did tell _Raphael_ to boost something. You should have known better." Garnet said, glancing at her older brother. She glanced at one of the monitors. "Well, we now have three other tanks following us." She said, glancing at the other occupants of the tank.

"Yeah, real invisible." Leo said, crossing his arms over his plastron. Raph gave him a cheesy smile. Garnet laughed at the face, before trying to cover it up with a cough when Leo glared at her slightly. The other tanks began firing on them, managing to hit one of their engines. The whole thing shook roughly, throwing Garnet to the floor while Mikey and Leo tried to balance the Professor between them while keeping their own balance. "Donnie! Return fire!" Leo yelled to the brainy turtle.

"In a minute, my D'Hoonnibian is a little rusty." Don said, going from panel to panel to try and figure something out. Raph was doing a pretty good job of outrunning the other tanks.

"Donnie, you better figure out how to fire this puppy or we're going to be smoked turtle meat in a can." Raph said as he lokoed over the brainy turtle. Garnet wrinkled her nose.

"That doesn't even remotely sound good." Mikey looked down at her since she was still lying on the floor.

"I'd hope not." He said.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance." Honeycutt said as he walked over to where Donnie was standing. "One of the perks of this robot body…" He said as his hand turned into what looked like a key. He plugged himself into a little port before he turned to look at Donnie. "Yes, I have weapons control." Raph turned down a small alley before they saw another tank in front of them.

"Tell me you're not playing chicken Raph." Leo said to the turtle driving.

"A turtle is never a chicken." He said with a smirk on his face before he flew over the tank in front of them just as he fired a blast, destroying one of the tanks behind them. "Now doc!" Raph told Professor Honeycutt, letting him know that he could now fire on the ships. With perfect aim, he destroyed one before another came through the smoke, still following them.

"We've got another one on our tail!" Garnet told Raph.

"Not for long." He said, jabbing the wing of the tank into a wall. He continued driving, causing the wall to crack and fall on the tank.

"There one more up ahead." Honeycutt said.

"Fire!" Raph gave the command and the robot destroyed the tank.

"We have to get out, there are soldiers standing on the other side of the smoke." Garnet said as she looked at the monitor that she had changed to infrared.

"Alright, everyone, move out." Leo said as they quickly made their way out of the tank and into an alleyway. Leo pointed down the alley, causing his siblings to nod and follow his example. When they were around the corner, they noticed that Honeycutt wasn't there. They all looked at Garnet, who sighed and rolled her eyes, before walking back around the corner. She stepped up to Honeycutt's side.

"Ah, how do you know all of those wonderful disappearing techniques?" He asked her. She smiled and shushed him gently before grabbing his arm and pulling him along.

"So I guess this means we're on the run once again?" Mikey asked as they quickly and quietly made their way through the city.

"I guess so." Donnie said, glancing around. Garnet sighed, just when she thought her life couldn't get any weirder.


End file.
